Crispy Gnocchi Gratin with Peruvian green Sauce & Spanish Chorizo

I will never forget the time I visited Peru. Everything I ate was delicious. Everything except tallarines verdes.

From sushi to pollo a la brasa, everything was a mind explosion of flavor. The best tamales I’ve ever eaten were in Huaraz. The best ceviche I’ve ever had was in Máncora. The best avocado I’ve ever eaten was in a sándwich de plata from a small food truck in Lima.

Now, I have a few different reasons why I believe I didn’t like the tallarines verdes, because there’s no way something in Peru doesn’t taste good. For me, it’s hard to believe.

It was on our way to Huaraz. We took a tour bus from Lima, and actually a few different buses along the way. My memory is kind of fuzzy because I spent most of the trip sleeping. Eventually, the bus made a stop.

It was a rest stop at a restaurant where everyone could stretch their legs, use the restroom, and have a meal. I don’t remember the rest of the menu, but I do remember a lady walking around the restaurant yelling out the names of the dishes to find people’s tables.

“Tallarines verdes, pollo a la brasa!”

Tallarines verdes was probably the most popular item on the menu.

Then my food arrived: a bright fluorescent-green plate of spaghetti.

I was tired. The restaurant was pretty loud with the lady yelling out the orders, and the tallarines verdes were too oily. The flavor was pretty standard. Nothing special. It didn’t stand out.

So I blame the restaurant, the day, and my energy. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to give this dish a second chance.

Only this time, I decided to make it my own way.

Crispy Gnocchi Gratin with Salsa Verde & Spanish Chorizo

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Wait until you hear the results.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Three handfuls of spinach

• One handful of basil

• A few walnuts

• A handful of queso fresco

• A handful of aged Parmesan (I used aged Manchego.)

• A handful of mozzarella

• A splash of milk

• Two garlic cloves

• Three or four saltine crackers

• One package of gnocchi

• Spanish chorizo or chistorra

For the sauce

Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Add olive oil and the chopped garlic. Once it turns lightly golden, remove it from the pan.

Before adding the spinach and basil, it’s recommended to remove the stems because they can be a little bitter. Add both to the pan and cook just until they soften. You don’t want them to dry out because you’ll lose some of that beautiful green color.

Transfer everything to a blender. Add the Manchego, queso fresco, walnuts, saltines, a splash of milk, the garlic, the spinach, and the basil. Blend until smooth.

Now you have authentic Peruvian salsa verde for your tallarines—not pesto pretending to be salsa verde.

Now cook the chorizo in a pan. It doesn’t take long.

The gnocchi are easy to make, pretty much like pasta but much faster. Bring salted water to a boil, add the gnocchi, and wait about two or three minutes until they float and get slightly bigger.

Drain them, then use the same pan you cooked the chorizo in to cook the gnocchi for a few minutes until they get a little brown on the sides.

Mix the gnocchi with the sauce. Start by adding small amounts of sauce until you have just enough to coat everything—you don’t want to add too much. Add half of the chorizo as well.

Transfer everything to a baking dish and top with the mozzarella and the rest of the Manchego.

Bake at 425°F for about 15 minutes.

Take it out of the oven, top it with the remaining chorizo, and let it cool for about five minutes before eating.

What Went Wrong with the Experiment

It was my first time cooking this recipe, so I forgot to add the queso fresco and the Parmesan to the blender when making the sauce.

I also didn’t have regular milk, so I used the coconut milk I had in the fridge instead.

Because of that, I believe my sauce ended up a little drier than it should have been. As a result, the gnocchi were a bit dry when they came out of the oven, the green color faded more than I wanted, and the chorizo got a little burned.

I’ll try this experiment again soon, and I’ll share my thoughts here on the blog.

Hopefully, one day I’ll finally have the mind-blowing experience of eating pasta with authentic Peruvian salsa verde.