Bread Gnocchi with Sausage – The Pasta Venture
11 min read
This bread gnocchi with sausage is a significantly good, hearty conventional dish from Umbria. Its wealthy and flavorful sauce pairs excellently with gnocchi and the recipe might be made in below an hour with home made bread gnocchi or in below half-hour with store-bought potato gnocchi.

Historical past
Often called gnocchetti collescipolani or gnocchi alla collescipolana, this Umbrian bread gnocchi recipe truly comes from the small hilltop village of Collescipoli, simply exterior town of Terni in South-Japanese Umbria.
Each Collescipoli and Terni are very historical settlements courting again to pre-Roman instances and situated on a big plain on the confluence of the Serra and Nera rivers.
The delicacies on this a part of Italy could be very rustic and primarily based on what Italians name ‘la cucina povera’ (the peasant kitchen). Pulses and legumes are staples for the locals and the most well-liked meat is pork and pork merchandise, sport birds, poultry and lamb.
In addition they have a whole lot of conventional dishes with black truffles, notably these from Norcia additional up the Nera River.
I first got here throughout this recipe in one among my favorite cookbooks, La Cucina: The Reginal Cooking of Italy. This guide was printed in English by the Italian Academy of Delicacies (L’Accademia Italiana della Cucina). It’s a treasure trove of conventional Italian recipes, not simply pasta in fact.

Recipe Variations
Like many different Italian recipes, there are completely different variations of gnocchetti collescipolani. Nonetheless, the variations are fairly small.
I’ve come throughout just a few recipes for the sauce made with pancetta as an alternative of guanciale. Nonetheless, most Italian recipes have guanciale. There are additionally Italian variations with cannellini beans as an alternative of borlotti, with crimson wine and with peperoncino. Traditionalists and the folks of Collescipoli would most likely disagree with utilizing these components!
In Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, they make a dish referred to as ‘pisarei e fasò’ which has very comparable bread gnocchi served in a bean and lardo (cured pork again fats not lard) or pancetta sauce.
Truly, the sauce is nearly the identical as this recipe. Pisarei isn’t precisely like these Umbrian bread gnocchi as a result of they’re barely completely different in form. They appear extra like orecchiette. On my to make checklist!
Elements

This bread gnocchi with sausage recipe will also be made with store-bought or home made potato gnocchi if most popular.
Bread Gnocchi:
- Bread: You need to use store-bought breadcrumbs or shortly blitz dried stale bread within the meals processor for the bread within the gnocchi. One of the best sort of bread to make use of is a thickly sliced nation or rustic bread.
- Italian ’00’ smooth wheat flour: Is a finely milled wheat flour. If unavailable, all-purpose flour can be utilized instead.
- Salt: Necessary for seasoning and enhancing the gnocchi taste.
- Heat Water: Binds the breadcrumb and flour collectively, making a workable dough.
Sausage Sauce:
- Italian Pork Sausages (Salsiccia): These sausages have a definite wealthy taste. If unavailable, you’ll be able to go for gentle pork sausages with the addition of some freshly chopped rosemary or crushed fennel seeds. At all times keep in mind to take away the casing and crumble the sausage meat.
- Guanciale: A standard Italian cured meat from pork cheek. It may be substituted with pancetta or fatty bacon if unavailable.
- Onion, Celery, Carrots, & Garlic: These create the basic ‘soffritto’ base for the recipe.
- Tomato Passata: These are sieved tomatoes and are referred to as tomato purée within the US. They will also be substituted for peeled and chopped recent tomatoes.
- Borlotti Beans (Cranberry Beans): You need to use both dried beans, canned beans or pre-cooked beans. If utilizing dried beans, they need to be soaked in a single day after which cooked in water for about 45-60 minutes till tender.

Learn how to make breadcrumbs from stale bread
If the bread is stale and already dried you’ll be able to merely pulse the bread into breadcrumbs utilizing a meals processor. If the bread continues to be somewhat moist comply with this technique:
Directions:
- Preheat Your Oven: Begin by setting your oven to 200°F (93°C). This temperature will gently dry out the bread with out toasting it.
- Preparation: In case your bread comes with a thick crust, you may wish to take away it for a uniform breadcrumb texture. Tear the bread into chunks, roughly the scale of enormous croutons.
- Lengthy & Mild Drying: Lay the bread items evenly on a baking sheet. Allow them to dry out within the oven for about 15-25 minutes. The aim is to dehydrate the bread, avoiding any browning. You’re aiming for a texture that’s completely dry and crumbly.
- Cooling Off: Make sure the bread items are cooled right down to room temperature earlier than continuing.
- Grinding and Then Prepared: Add the dried bread chunks right into a meals processor. Pulse till you get a constant breadcrumb texture.
Learn how to make bread gnocchi
1) Combine the breadcrumbs, flour and a tsp of salt collectively in a bowl. Slowly add the nice and cozy water whereas utilizing your palms to work the components right into a dough.
Be aware: Chances are you’ll not want all of the water or it’s possible you’ll want so as to add a bit extra. The dough must be smooth and barely cheesy however not moist.

2) Flip the dough out onto a pastry board and knead somewhat. Not rather a lot as in any other case your gnocchi can be too dense. Cowl the dough with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and let it relaxation for 30-60 minutes.

3) After letting the dough relaxation, make the gnocchi by rolling items of dough into ‘snakes’ about 1.5 cm (0.5ins) thick after which reducing the snakes into small 1-2 cm (0.5-0.75 ins) items.

4) Put the prepared gnocchi onto a tray or tea towel that’s been dusted with flour whilst you make the remaining and the sauce.
Tip: I discover semolina flour is one of the best for dusting.

Learn how to make gnocchi with sausage
1) In a Dutch oven or giant pot, sauté onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in olive oil over low warmth. Improve the warmth to medium-high, then add guanciale and sausage mince. Brown the guanciale and sausage mince this could take about 5-7 minutes.

2) After browning the meat, combine within the tomato passata and cook dinner for an extra quarter-hour.

3) Regulate with salt, add beans, and let simmer for one more 10 minutes.

4) Simply earlier than you’re able to serve, boil the breadcrumb gnocchi in salted water. As they float to the floor, transfer them with a slotted spoon to the sauce.
Be aware: Be sure that to do a style check earlier than including the gnocchi to the sausage sauce.

5) Combine completely and serve garnished with grated pecorino.

Storage and Leftovers
Storing Raw Bread Gnocchi: If you happen to’ve ready extra gnocchi than wanted, organize them in a single layer on a tray and freeze till stable. As soon as agency, switch them to a sealable bag and retailer them within the freezer. They’ll keep recent for as much as 3 months and might be cooked immediately from frozen.
Storing the Sausage Sauce: Maintain any leftover sauce in a tightly sealed container. It should stay recent within the fridge for as much as 3-4 days. For longer storage, you’ll be able to freeze it in a tightly sealed container for as much as 3 months.
Reheating the Dish: Once you’re able to benefit from the leftovers, slowly simmer the sauce on the stovetop. If the sauce has thickened an excessive amount of, you’ll be able to skinny it out with a little bit of water whereas reheating. For the raw gnocchi, boil them in salted water till they float to the floor, then switch them into the sauce with a slotted spoon.
Leftovers Mixed: If in case you have gnocchi and the sausage sauce saved collectively, it’s finest to retailer them in an hermetic container within the fridge. For reheating, gently simmer on the stovetop till scorching all through, adjusting consistency if needed with a splash of water or broth.

FAQs
In reality, it’s rather a lot much less work than potato gnocchi as there’s nothing to cook dinner beforehand. Simply combine breadcrumbs, flour, salt and heat water collectively in a bowl till you may have a dough. Then flip it out onto a pastry board and knead somewhat then, roll and reduce.
Resting the dough permits the flour to totally hydrate and helps in stress-free the gluten strands. This ensures the gnocchi stays tender when cooked and prevents it from changing into too dense or chewy.
To stop dense or powerful gnocchi, it’s important to keep away from over-kneading the dough. Over-kneading trigger the gluten to tighten, resulting in a more durable texture. It’s additionally essential to measure components precisely and let the dough relaxation as instructed.
Stale bread is drier and crumbles extra simply, making it ideally suited for breadcrumbs. Recent bread comprises extra moisture, which may end up in clumpy or uneven breadcrumbs. If you happen to solely have recent bread available, you’ll be able to dry it out within the oven for the same impact.
Completely! The sausage sauce might be ready a day or two upfront. In reality, permitting the sauce to sit down for some time will help the flavors meld collectively even higher. Once you’re able to serve, merely reheat the sauce after which add the freshly boiled gnocchi.
Extra Recipes You Might Like
If you happen to do that bread gnocchi with sausage recipe, do please let me know what you assume by commenting right here on the weblog or on The Pasta Project Facebook page. Your suggestions is far appreciated!
Buon appetito!
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