Knock-Off Gnocchi (High Protein)

Recently, I was playing around with ideas for making a pasta and ended up with something that reminded me of gnocchi. So, I changed courses and started instead working on a gnocchi recipe. To me, gnocchi is basically neutral-flavored little balls of dough. If that is not your experience of gnocchi, then this knock-off gnocchi recipe may not live up to your expecations. These protein-rich gnocchi use plain protein powder and vital wheat gluten, so they are not quite as neutral in flavor as a traditional gnocchi. Once in a sauce, I don't find the flavor particularly noticeable. However, feel free to add additional dried herbs and spices to the dough ingredients prior to mixing. If you make the recipe, let me know what you think. I'm curious to find out what others think of these as a viable gnocchi replacement. Yay or nay?
Yield: 4 servings of about ½ cup (70g) pieces each, totaling roughly 2 cups (280g) pieces ​✎
​Macros (per serving): 115 calories | 18g protein | 1g fat | 4.5g net carbs ​
Equipment required: a good quality stand mixer
Prep: 25 minutes | Cook: 5-7 minutes
Storage: uncooked gnocchi refrigerated for up to 5 days. Cooked gnocchi refrigerated for up to 3 days. Note that texture will be firmer and less gnocchi-like once cooked, stored, and reheated. These are best freshly cooked and eaten hot.
Ingredients:​
  • ¾ cup (184g) canned unsweetened pumpkin purée
  • ​⅓ cup (37g) plain pea or soy protein powder ✎​
  • ⅓ cup (53g) vital wheat gluten​
  • 1 tablespoon (9g) agar agar powder ✎
  • 1 tablespoon (5g) nutritional yeast flakes
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder​
Directions:
  1. Put all ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the flat beater attachment, mix on low speed for 7 minutes until a lumpy dough has formed. See picture below for clarity.
  2. Remove the dough from the mixer and knead briefly and form into a small loaf.
  3. Slice and then cut the loaf into pieces about the size of a finger section. ✎
  4. Using your fingers, form the pieces into little rectagular blocks. Optionally, roll these on a gnocchi board or with a fork to create striations. See pictures below for clarity.
  5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the gnocchi and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. The gnocchi will change texture over time, but will not fall apart. They will actually become firmer and less doughy the longer they cook. You may wish to play around with the cooking time to see at what point they are the texture you like best.
  6. Once cooked, drain and serve fresh and hot with sauce of choice.
Picture
Mixed Dough
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Cut Dough
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Formed Rectangular Blocks
Picture
Roll on a Gnocchi Board
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Roll with a Fork
✎ Notes:
  • Eating multiple servings of these could result in digestive upset. Proceed with caution.
  • At the moment, I am not sure about alternatives to protein powder. I tried making these with coconut flour and it didn't work at all. I made an earlier version with almond flour and it worked out alright. The flavor was nice, but the texture was grainy. However, that version had different measurements and so I don't know if a simple swap to ⅓ cup almond flour would work out. I think the amount of pumpkin would also need to be reduced. A swap for lupin flour might work, but flavor-wise I think the results would not taste very good.
  • At some point during recipe testing, I accidentally made a batch without agar agar powder and it turned out fine, maybe a bit softer than with agar. However, I did not test that recipe for endurance and so am not sure how well the gnocchis would hold up with lengthy boiling or if cooked and stored.
  • You can make the gnocchis whatever size and shape suits you. I assume larger ones will need to be cooked longer.
  • Macros for this recipes are calculated with American national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from theplain pea protein powder (Now Foods), agar agar powder (Now Foods), and nutritional yeast flakes (blend of Bob's Redmill and Foods Alive unfortified).
  • Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.