17 Nov | 2011

Chicken & Homemade Gnocchi in Buttermilk Blue Cheese Sauce

Instant potatoes are far more flexible than many people realize. I haven’t made gnocchi (potato pasta/dumplings) for some time, because it can be a rather time consuming process, although my daughter adores participating. Using Betty Crocker Roasted Garlic Instant Potatoes not only saved me a step, but provided some wonderful roasted garlic flavor. Perhaps the best part of using Betty Crocker instant potatoes over cooking and mashing myself, is the consistency the recipe provides. The flakes are easy to measure, no lumps (very bad for gnocchi) and there is no concern over varying water content in potatoes. The gnocchi came out nice and tender and I really couldn’t get enough of them, especially in this sauce. I put aside some of the gnocchi and simply tossed them in butter with sweet red peppers for my daughter, which she enjoyed (great simple side dish). I will be making my gnocchi with Betty Crocker Roasted Garlic instant potatoes from now on.

Save Print

Ingredients

*Homemade Gnocchi*
⅔ c buttermilk
1 cup water
1 tbs butter
generous pinch of dried crushed thyme
salt & pepper
1 pouch Roasted Garlic Betty Crocker instant potatoes
1 egg
1¾ c flour + ½ cup for kneading
2 tbs Parmesan cheese
*Chicken & Gnocchi in Buttermilk Blue Cheese Sauce*
2 chicken breasts (trimmed & sliced)
8 oz. Crimini mushrooms (halved, then sliced)
2 tbs. butter
¾ c chicken stock
1 cup butter milk
1 cup crumbed blue cheese
generous pinch of dried thyme

Instructions

Make your gnocchi first.
Place buttermilk, water, butter & thyme in sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.
Mix in the rest of ingredients (except the flour for kneading). I do this in a stand mixer with dough hook.
Generously flour a kneading and rolling surface.
Knead the gnocchi dough, then roll out “snakes” of the dough about a ½” round.
Cut the rolled dough into gnocchi. Keep the surface well floured. If you want to freeze the gnocchi to use later, make sure to shake them in a bit of flour before placing in freezer container, so they don’t stick together.
Drop batches of the gnocchi into boiling water, and remove with a slotted spoon as they float to the top. They cook quickly.
*Prepare the sauce*
Place butter in large saute pan, on med heat.
Saute the mushrooms, chicken and thyme, until outside of chicken is cooked and mushrooms are nearly done.
Add the buttermilk, chicken stock and blue cheese. Stirring until sauce starts to thicken.
Add gnocchi, and simmer while gently stirring, for about a minute.
Serve.

While I of course would love to have you try my recipe (I sure enjoyed it), there are many delicious and easy recipe ideas that incorporate Betty Crocker Specialty potatoes, at the Spud Hub on BHG.com. I encourage you to stop in and browse the recipes there, as well as enter their Sweepstakes (they are giving away $250 gift cards). You may just find that perfect dish for tonight’s supper.

Disclosure: I was given the opportunity to share my experience with Betty Crocker Specialty Potatoes, as part of a sponsored blogging program. I was compensated for my participation. All opinions and recipes presented here are my own.