Crispy gnocchi with burst tomatoes

Name: Crispy gnocchi with burst tomatoes
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil (plus more as needed); 1 × 16 oz package shelf-stable or refrigerated potato gnocchi (the source calls for two, one is plenty); ¼ cup unsalted butter; 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (plus more for serving); 1 ½ tsp kosher salt; 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes; ¼ cup basil, thinly sliced (optional, plus more to serve); 6 oz fresh mozzarella, torn into ½-inch pieces; black pepper

Skip the pot. Fry the gnocchi like they owe you money.

At a Glance

Time

25 min

Serves

Story

The trick that makes this whole dish work is that shelf-stable gnocchi never needs boiling. Drop the little dumplings straight into a hot pan and the starch fries into a crisp golden shell while the inside stays pillowy, so you get the texture of baked pasta in a quarter of the time. Reach for small tomatoes too, cherry or grape, they are reliably sweeter all year than the big watery ones that go mealy out of season.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oilplus more as needed
1 × 16 oz package shelf-stable or refrigerated potato gnocchithe source calls for two, one is plenty
¼ cup unsalted butter
4 cloves garlicthinly sliced
¼ tsp red pepper flakesplus more for serving
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
¼ cup basilthinly sliced (optional, plus more to serve)
6 oz fresh mozzarellatorn into ½-inch pieces
black pepper

Method

This is what you make when you want something that eats like an hour of work and took twenty-five minutes. No boiling, no draining, one pan and the broiler. Give the gnocchi room to crisp in batches, a crowded pan steams them soft and you lose the entire point.

Heat the broiler with a rack about 6 inches from the element.
Film the bottom of a large skillet with about a tablespoon of oil over medium high. Add half the gnocchi in one layer, cover with a lid or baking sheet and cook undisturbed until golden on one side, 2 to 4 minutes. Tip into a bowl and repeat with more oil and the rest.
Melt the butter in the same pan over medium high and let it cook to toasty and golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes, that browned butter is quiet extra depth. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, the salt and a few grinds of pepper, easing the heat back if it starts to scorch.
Add the tomatoes and 3 tablespoons water and cook, shaking the pan now and then, until they soften and the liquid thickens, 4 to 6 minutes. Press the tomatoes as they burst to help them along.
Return the gnocchi with the basil and stir to coat, then shake into an even layer. Strew the mozzarella over the top and drizzle lightly with oil. Slide under the broiler until the cheese melts and browns in spots, 2 to 4 minutes. Finish with more basil and pepper and eat straight from the pan.