Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts, Chicken Sausage and Kale Pesto

Mid-October and the election was three weeks away. The school had been doing voter information events — not endorsing, just informing — and the energy around it was real in a way that school election coverage hadn't been when I was a freshman. Things felt different this year. They were different this year. I was sixteen and could not vote and I was paying closer attention than most adults I knew.

AP US History was in full election context — Mr. Broussard had connected the current moment to the 1876 election, the 2000 election, every time in American history that the transfer of power had been contested or uncertain. The historical pattern was not comforting but it was instructive. You understand the present better when you understand the past it came from. That is what he had been teaching all year. That is what I had been learning.

I started a new section of my essay collection this month: pieces about food and democracy, specifically the way shared meals and food culture function as community-building or community-erasing depending on who is included. It was a more political direction than the collection had taken before. I was sixteen in October 2020 and politics was unavoidable, and the kitchen was where I was clearest, and so the kitchen was where I went to think about politics. This was inevitable.

I made a big pot of gumbo on Saturday in preparation for a week I expected to be hard regardless of the outcome. Deep roux, chicken and andouille, served over rice with potato salad on the side. MawMaw Shirley called while I was stirring the roux. I told her what I was doing. She said, "Good. Make enough." I made enough. I put half in the freezer. Some weeks you need to have something good ready to eat. That week was going to be one of them.

The gumbo that week was mine in the way family recipes become yours — through repetition and need — but if I’m making something to share with people who didn’t grow up with a MawMaw Shirley on the other end of the phone, this gnocchi with chicken sausage and kale pesto is where I land: substantial, built from real ingredients, the kind of thing you can make a big batch of and trust to still be good on Thursday. The chicken sausage gives it the same low-and-slow-earned depth that andouille brings to a roux, and the kale pesto is green and grounding in exactly the way you need when the news cycle is relentless. Make enough. You will want leftovers.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb shelf-stable or fresh potato gnocchi
3/4 lb chicken andouille or chicken Italian sausage, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
2 cups Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste
Kale Pesto:
2 cups roughly chopped lacinato kale, stems removed
1/4 cup toasted walnuts or pine nuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2–3 tablespoons water, to thin
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the kale pesto. Add kale, toasted nuts, Parmesan, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice to a food processor. Pulse until a rough paste forms, adding water one tablespoon at a time to reach a spoonable consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Brown the sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage rounds in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, for 2–3 minutes per side until deeply browned. Transfer to a plate.
Roast the Brussels sprouts. In the same skillet, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the halved Brussels sprouts cut-side down. Cook over medium-high heat for 5–7 minutes, turning once, until caramelized and tender. Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes in the last minute, stirring until fragrant. Return sausage to the pan.
Cook the gnocchi. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add gnocchi and cook until they float to the surface, about 2–3 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain.
Combine and finish. Add the drained gnocchi to the skillet with the sausage and Brussels sprouts. Spoon in the kale pesto and toss to coat, adding splashes of reserved pasta water to loosen as needed. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Serve. Divide among bowls and top with additional Parmesan. Leftovers keep well refrigerated for up to 4 days — reheat gently in a skillet with a splash of water.

Nutrition (per serving)

Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts, Chicken Sausage and Kale Pesto — Make Enough for the Week Ahead