Chicken and gnocchi with a pecan gremolata
The gnocchi cook in the broth, and the pesto turns what is left into a sauce.
At a Glance
Story
A jarred pesto is an emulsion already, which is why a spoonful of it turns a pan of broth into something that clings instead of a puddle. The oil is held in suspension by the cheese and the ground nuts, and stirring it into hot liquid carries that structure across. This is also why pesto splits if you boil it hard: keep the pan at a bare simmer once it goes in.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 12 oz shelf-stable gnocchi
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 leekwhite and pale green only, halved and thinly sliced
- 3 oz baby spinach
- 3 tbsp roasted garlic pestojarred is fine
- ¼ cup pecans
- 1 bunch parsleyleaves and stems roughly chopped
- ½ oz salted butter
- 1 lemonquartered
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
One pan after the pecans, and the gnocchi never see a pot of water. The gremolata is raw and goes on at the very end.
- Medium nonstick pan, a drizzle of oil, medium-high. Pecans, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until they smell toasted. Onto paper towel, salt and pepper. Wipe the pan.
- Chop the pecans roughly and stir with the parsley, the juice of one lemon wedge and a little olive oil. Season. That is the gremolata. Leave it.
- Pat the chicken dry, season both sides. Same pan, oil, medium-high, 6 to 9 minutes a side, to 165°F. Onto a board, and leave the fond behind.
- Same pan, a little oil, the sliced leek, seasoned. 3 to 4 minutes, until soft and sweet, scraping the fond up as it goes.
- Broth in and brought to a boil, then down to a simmer. Gnocchi, pesto and spinach. 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the gnocchi are tender and the liquid has drawn together.
- Butter in, 30 seconds to a minute, until it disappears. Off the heat, the juice of two lemon wedges.
- Slice the chicken across, sit it on the gnocchi, and spoon the gremolata over.
A swap worth knowing: the original softens 4 oz of sliced mushrooms in the fond here. Leeks take that job instead. They are sweeter where mushrooms were earthy, so the dish leans on the pesto and the toasted pecans for depth rather than on the pan.
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