Sheet Pan Gnocchi With Chili Crisp & Baby Bok Choy From Hetty McKinnon
Sheet pan dinners have so much promise: an entire meal prepped in one swoop, roasted and caramelized hands-free—all with just one pan to clean. But many cook unevenly or turn out sleepy and one-note in their haste. Not here: This recipe—created by To Asia, With Love author Hetty McKinnon—is the most flavorful, joyfully textured sheet-pan dinner I’ve ever made, thanks to hardworking ingredients, brilliantly paired by Hetty. Ready-to-rumble packaged Italian gnocchi form the toasty-chewy base, the hot umami pop of Chinese chili crisp takes care of the seasoning, and a scallion sour cream brightens it all.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (450g) baby bok choy (about 4)
- 1 to 2 bunches scallions
- 28 ounces (795g) shelf-stable, frozen, or fresh gnocchi (about 4 cups)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chili crisp, such as fly by jing brand, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds
- 1/2 small lime or lemon, for serving
- 3/4 cup (175ml) sour cream
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
Directions
- Get ready to roast: Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with an oven rack positioned in the lower third. Rinse the bok choy well and, on a large cutting board with a chef’s knife, slice them lengthwise into halves or quarters—aim for something that looks roughly like the photo above. Rinse and trim the tops and bottoms of the scallions. Finely slice 3 and set them aside for the scallion sour cream and garnish. Cut the rest of the scallions in 2-inch (5cm) lengths and set aside with the bok choy.
- Roast the gnocchi: To a sheet pan, add the gnocchi, breaking up any clumps, plus the olive oil, 1 to 2 tablespoons well-stirred chili crisp (according to your spice tolerance), 1⁄4 teaspoon of the salt, and a good turn of black pepper. Toss with a wooden spoon to coat the gnocchi, set the pan in the lower third of the oven, and roast for 15 minutes.
- Make the scallion sour cream: In a small bowl, whisk together about two-thirds of the finely sliced scallions, the sour cream, olive oil, salt, and lime juice. If the cream isn’t thin enough to drizzle, stir in a tablespoon of water at a time until it is.
- Add the greens: In a large bowl or tray, stir together the baby bok choy, 2-inch (5cm) scallions, sesame oil, the remaining tablespoon of chili crisp, and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt.
- After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven with oven mitts, carefully stir in the greens, and even everything out to a single layer. Return to the oven until the white bulbs of the baby bok choy are tender when you slide in a fork and the gnocchi are golden underneath, another 10 minutes or so.
- Eat: Drizzle with the scallion sour cream, scatter with the remaining finely sliced scallions and sesame seeds, and serve with half a lime to squeeze over top.
- Store: Leftover gnocchi and sauce keep well in separate sealed containers in the refrigerator for a few days. Crisp up leftover gnocchi in a little olive oil in a nonstick or cast-iron skillet.
