Gnocchi With Mushrooms, Sausage, and Kale Is a Sheet Pan Wonder

As someone who cooks and writes recipes for a living, all the dirty dishes that come along with the job are a real bummer. So when the opportunity to create a fuss-free supper with minimal dirty dishes presents itself, I’m all in. And when it turns out to be as delicious as this sheet pan gnocchi, you better believe the recipe goes into my regular rotation. 

Making this sheet pan gnocchi is a two-step affair. You start by roasting gnocchi, mushrooms, sausage, and whole cloves of garlic on a sheet pan. After about 30 minutes, you whisk the roasted garlic with lemon juice and olive oil, toss it with kale, and nestle the dressed leafy greens onto the sheet pan to finish cooking.

With the pleasing combination of gnocchi, mushrooms, sausage, and kale, it’s the type of dish you’ll want to pluck straight from the sheet pan before it even lands in a serving bowl.  

What Type of Gnocchi to Use

You might be surprised to learn that you don’t need to pre-cook the gnocchi for this recipe. I have a few suggestions about what type of gnocchi to buy:

• My preference is frozen gnocchi since I find it works best here and I love the convenience. You don’t need to defrost it first—take it straight from freezer to sheet pan.
• Shelf-stable gnocchi will also work in this recipe. Look for it in the same aisle you find pasta.
• I’ve had mixed results using fresh gnocchi from the supermarket. If that’s your only option, I recommend par-boiling and draining it before adding it to the sheet pan. 

Can I Make This Vegetarian?

The answer is yes! Here are two options:

1. Replace the conventional sausage with an equal amount of Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods spicy Italian sausage (or another vegetarian option).
2. Leave the sausage out and bump up the mushrooms to 12 ounces. Add 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning mix, and an extra 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil.

A Few Tips for Making Sheet Pan Gnocchi

Sheet pan suppers are forgivingly simple, but here are a few tips to ensure success right out of the gate:

• This recipe takes very little time to pull together, but if you want to do some prep in advance, you can stem and chop the kale and prepare the mushrooms. Store them in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.
• You can stick with ordinary white button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms, which are widely available and budget-friendly. If you can get your hands on other varieties, such as oyster and maitake mushrooms, include those, too. They add interesting texture and flavor to the mix.
• Use a large sheet pan, like a jelly roll or half sheet pan. The ingredients can be close together in this recipe, but if food is piled up, everything won’t cook evenly or brown nicely. Use 2 sheet pans if what you have is on the smaller side. 

Sheet Pan Dinners For the Win

• Sheet Pan Harissa Chicken with Carrots and Cauliflower
• Meat Lovers' Sheet Pan Pizza
• Sheet Pan Fish and Chips
• Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves with Crispy Broccoli and Mustard Glazed Potatoes
• Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas With Peppers and Onions

 Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Line a large sheet pan (about 17 x 12 or 18 x 13-inch) with parchment paper. 

Prepare the mushrooms:

Put the mushrooms in a colander and rinse under the tap while rubbing off any obvious dirt. Shake off the excess water. 

Cut cremini and button mushrooms into quarters, shitakes in half, and/or tear oyster and maitake mushrooms into large bite-size pieces. Bunch the mushrooms together on the sheet pan and sprinkle with thyme and salt. 

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top and use your hands to toss the mushrooms so they’re evenly coated with the olive oil and seasonings.

Add the gnocchi, garlic, and sausage and bake:

Add the gnocchi and garlic to the mushrooms and toss again. Spread over the surface of the pan. Use a paring knife to slit the sausage casings down the center (or use bulk sausage). Pluck large, gumball-sized pieces of sausage from the casings and distribute evenly over the sheet pan. 

Bake for 20 minutes. Use a spatula to stir the ingredients and spread them back out in the pan. Continue baking until the gnocchi tastes done and is beginning to brown, another 10 minutes or so. Remove the pan from the oven. 

Dress the kale and add to the pan:

Squeeze the soft cloves of roasted garlic out of their peels and into a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, water, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Whisk to blend. 

Add the kale and toss well. Dump the kale and dressing onto the sheet pan and use your hands or a spoon to nestle the kale among the gnocchi and mushrooms. 

Finish baking and serve:

Return the pan to the oven and bake until the kale is cooked, about 10 minutes. Spoon the gnocchi into 4 shallow bowls, add a light drizzle of olive oil to each, and serve with Parmesan cheese.

Store leftover gnocchi in a covered container in the fridge. To reheat, add a splash of water and drizzle of olive oil and warm in the microwave or an oil-slicked skillet over medium heat. Taste and add lemon and Parmesan as desired. 

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