One of our favorite things to do is to cook with friends at camp. It’s even more special when your friends fly thousands of miles to meet up in Alaska, and they treat you to an incredible gnocchi primavera camp dinner.
This recipe comes from our good friend, Sarah, who cooked this up on our new Blackstone Camp Griddle. They visited us in Alaska last week and rented a van so we could travel together. We had a wonderful time sightseeing, hiking, fishing, and of course, making some delicious meals around camp.
During their week here, this was one of our favorite meals, and Sarah graciously agreed to me sharing it here for all of you. It’s the best combination of seasonal vegetables, pillowy gnocchi, fruity white wine, and other Italian flavors. While this is a great meal to cook on the Blackstone, you can also cook it in a Skottle, Dutch oven, or in a pan. The recipe below is if you were cooking it at home on the stovetop. To cook this at camp, see the notes that follow the recipe.
You can also mix this up a bit and swap out the ingredients. Feel free to add whatever vegetables you’d like. For example, cauliflower, broccoli, and bell pepper would probably be great in this. Also, if you prefer not to use wine, you could substitute with chicken stock. We highly discourage that though, since the wine adds so much great flavor.
However you end up making it, we hope you love it. Let us know if you make any variations in the comments below!
Willow Creek Gnocchi Primavera
Serves: 2
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 package dried gnocchi
- 1 cup dry white wine (we used Chardonnay)
- 6 slices of bacon
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 ear of corn
- 1 large zucchini, diced into 1-inch cubes
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
- Handful of basil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
- Start by cooking your bacon till crispy, drain, and crumble. Set aside.
- Prep all your veggies by dicing/mincing them and cutting the corn off the cob.
- Heat your skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and melt.
- Add the corn and shallot to the butter. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add the zucchini and garlic. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes until the zucchini is starting to turn golden brown.
- Stir in the wine and add the gnocchi. Simmer until the sauce has reduced by half and the gnocchi are tender, about 4-6 minutes.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, some torn basil, and cook until warmed through.
- Top with bacon and parmesan cheese. Pop it in a 400ºF oven for 15 minutes until the parmesan is melted and the top is getting a little golden brown. Serve with more parmesan and fresh basil on top. Enjoy!
Cooking Variations for Camp:
- Dutch Oven Method: This is our preferred way of cooking this, but it requires a campfire. Start by placing your Dutch oven over the fire till hot. Follow steps 2-8 above. Top with bacon and parmesan cheese. Remove from the heat and cover with the lid. Add coals to the top of the Dutch oven only and cook for 15 minutes. Top with extra basil, and you are ready to eat!
- Blackstone Method: If you’ll be cooking this on a Blackstone, follow steps 2-6 above. After you have finished sautéing the vegetables, create a foil packet (like the one shown below). Add the gnocchi, wine, tomatoes, and some basil to the foil. Seal the edges and keep the foil on top of the Blackstone over medium heat. Allow the wine to cook down, and after about 10 minutes or most of the wine is gone, flip everything directly on top of the Blackstone. Top with bacon and parmesan cheese. Cover with the lid or foil to allow the parmesan to melt. Top with extra basil, and you are ready to eat!
- Skottle Method: To cook this on a Tembo Tusk or other type of Skottle, follow steps 2-8 above. Top with bacon and parmesan cheese. Cover with the lid or foil to allow the parmesan to melt. Top with extra basil, and you are ready to eat!
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