This spring Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce & Asparagus is the perfect way to enjoy your favorite springtime flavors! Made with smoky pancetta, bright asparagus, plump gnocchi, and a creamy arugula pistachio pesto, this luxurious dish will be sure to impress your dinner guests!

Why You’ll Love this Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce Recipe

Easy to make. A food processor does much of the work for you, making this an easy, low-stress meal. Once you make the pesto with a couple of pushes of a button, all you have to do is quickly saute pancetta, shallots, and asparagus. The rest of the sauce comes together super easily, and using store bought gnocchi simplifies this even more.
Fresh, bright, and creamy. The best of both worlds, the sauce is bright from the lemon and arugula and creamy from heavy cream. It feels rich and luxurious and also fresh and vibrant from the pesto and asparagus.
Perfect for feeding a crowd. We like our pasta dishes on the saucier side, so this recipe makes a good amount of sauce. You can soak up some of the extra sauce with crusty bread or cook another pound of gnocchi and throw it into the pan to make more servings. It’s easy to scale up (or down too). But trust us when we say you’ll want leftovers.
It’s crazy delicious. This recipe is stupid good. Like really, really good. We can’t stress this enough.

White plate with Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce & Asparagus in the middle. The pasta dish is garnished with pistachios and asparagus. A gold fork rests on the plate.

This Arugula Pistachio Pesto is the Best-o!

Pesto is one of our favorite pasta sauces. This pesto is made with both basil and arugula, one of our favorite springtime greens. The basil provides some of the traditional pesto vibes, and the arugula adds a subtle peppery flavor and a vibrant green color. Arugula is also an excellent ingredient in salads and sandwiches.

We’ve also swapped out the pine nuts for dry roasted pistachios for a hint of nutty sweetness. We’ve thrown in the classic parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little fresh lemon juice for brightness.

Ingredients for This Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce Dish

This dish has two main parts, the arugula pistachio pesto and the gnocchi with asparagus and pancetta.

Pesto

For the pesto, you’ll need:

Basil – we like using some basil in this pesto to give it some traditional vibes, but we cut the amount we’d normally use in half to make room for arugula.
Arugula – arugula is available year round in most places in the U.S., but its peak seasons are spring and fall. It’s the perfect springtime leafy green to add to the pesto.
Pistachios – we use pistachios instead of pine nuts in this pesto. They have a buttery, nutty, and subtly sweet flavor. Be sure to use dry toasted pistachios instead of raw ones for best flavor and texture.
Parmesan – parmesan provides umami undertones to the pesto.
Lemon – we love adding a hint of something acidic to our pesto, and the lemon provides a bright springy freshness.
Olive oil – use good quality olive oil here for best results and flavor.
Salt & pepper – we suggest using dry toasted, salted pistachios for better flavor, but if yours are super salty, be careful with how much added salt you use in the pesto. Start with less and then add more, if needed. Cracked black pepper adds a subtle heat.

Side view of a food processor filled with the ingredients in the Arugula Pistachio Pesto. The ingredients include basil, arugula, pistachios, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil (not pictured).

Pasta

For the rest of this pasta dish, you’ll need:

Gnocchi – you can, of course, make your own fresh gnocchi, but this recipe works just as well with store-bought varieties.
Pancetta – we buy our pancetta pre-diced to make it easier, but you can always dice it yourself if needed. Regular chopped bacon would work fine too. If you don’t eat pork, you can leave it out or substitute it with your preferred protein.
Shallot – we like the mild onion flavor of shallots with the earthiness of asparagus, but you could also use minced sweet or yellow onion instead.
Asparagus – this is one of our favorite spring vegetables and it tastes great with the pesto. Be sure to trim off the woody ends of the asparagus before cutting the stalks into small pieces.
Pesto – we use all of the pesto in this recipe, but if you want to scale the recipe down, you can use less and save any extra for slathering on bread.
Heavy cream – this turns the sauce into a pesto cream instead of just a regular pesto sauce.

Sauté pan filled with Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce & Asparagus

How to Make Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce & Asparagus

To make this dish, add the gnocchi to a pot of salted boiling water. Cook the gnocchi according to package directions. Al dente is best for this recipe since you’ll be adding the gnocchi to the pan later, so be sure not to overcook them.

While the gnocchi are cooking, make the pesto. Add all of the pesto ingredients, except the olive oil, to a large food processor. Blitz everything together until it forms a paste. While the food processor is running, slowly stream in the olive oil until it’s fully incorporated and the pesto looks wet and slightly thick. This recipe makes about a cup of pesto.

In a large pan set over medium heat, add the pancetta. Sauté the pancetta until the fat has rendered and the pancetta is fully cooked through.

To the same pan, add the minced shallot and cook it until it is slightly soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook it for 3 to 5 minutes too, or until it is slightly soft but not mushy.

Add the pesto to the pan and let it heat up and mix with the other ingredients. Then mix in the cream and add the cooked gnocchi. Toss the gnocchi with the sauce until everything is fully coated. Taste the gnocchi and sauce for seasoning.

Garnish the gnocchi with more parmesan and crushed pistachios, if desired.

*Note: *Note: we like this dish saucy but you could make it with up to 2 pounds of gnocchi if you want to stretch it farther; there is enough sauce for the extra gnocchi.