Passover Recipe of the Month: Cauliflower Gnocchi

A couple of weeks ago, Brian and I were going through our annual ritual of figuring out what to cook during the eight days of Passover. This is always tricky, because our normal diet is so heavily grain-based. Eliminating bread, pasta, rice, and all other grains and grain products rules out nearly all our usual recipes. And I'm reluctant to make up too much of the difference with matzo, because that has unfortunate digestive effects. I find I'm okay if I limit myself to one square of matzo or the equivalent per day, but a steady diet of matzo brei, matzo pizzas, matzo ball soup, matzagna, and matzo brickle — no matter how tasty — just won't do.

This year, however, we had an ace up our sleeve. Stashed in the freezer were a bag of cauliflower rice and a bag of cauliflower gnocchi, both picked up on a whim at Trader Joe's and never used. In fact, Brian suggested it would probably be wise to take the opportunity to use them up, since they had been in there several months and presumably weren't getting any better. We weren't entirely sure if the gnocchi would work, since regular gnocchi contain flour as well as potatoes (and when we've tried to substitute matzo meal or tapioca starch in homemade gnocchi, it didn't go well at all). But they turned out to contain only Passover-friendly ingredients: cauliflower, cassava flour, potato starch, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt. And since there was no egg in them either, they were perfectly suitable for a Vegan Recipe of the Month.

So, this Thursday, we gave them a try. We cooked them according to the "pan saute" method on the package: dump them still frozen into a pan with a quarter-cup of water, cover, cook on medium until the water evaporates, and then add oil and saute them until they're browned. We also added some mushrooms and onions to the pan for the frying stage, the way we do when making regular gnocchi. However, we did not add any of our fake mozzarella cheese, since it contains both tofu and nutritional yeast. (You could stretch a point and say the tofu is still okay for Passover, but no way actual yeast gets a pass.) We had purchased a pound of real mozzarella as well, an indulgence we allow ourselves during Passover, but we left that out so that it would remain vegan.

As it turns out, these cauliflower gnocchi are quite tasty. They have a chewier texture than regular gnocchi, but their flavor is pretty neutral, making a good background for the sauteed mushrooms and onions. Although they're made primarily of cauliflower, I didn't find the cauliflower flavor noticeable, at least not with all those other ingredients added. They're even quicker to fix than regular gnocchi, about 15 minutes from start to finish. And they're healthier too, with less starch and more fiber.

In fact, we both liked them so much that on our next trip to Trader Joe's, we picked up another bag and tucked it in the freezer where the old one had been. It will make a perfect emergency meal for those nights when there's not a lot of time for dinner.

Unfortunately, we didn't actually get around to using the cauliflower rice during Passover. So we'll have to come up with something to do with those in the weeks to come. Perhaps they can be the foundation of our Recipe of the Month for May.