Baked gnocchi with creamy tomato & spinach recipe
My cheesy baked gnocchi with a creamy tomato sauce and spinach makes a quick and easy midweek vegetarian meal. There is very little hands-on cooking as this bakes in the oven until bubbling and golden.
Print Recipe
Ingredients
Tomato sauce: (You will only use half to 3/4 of this sauce for this recipe, but freeze the rest. See above details)
- 2 400gram 14 oz tins of good quality tomatoes
- 1 small onion peeled and cut into quarters
- 30 grams butter
Baked Gnocchi:
- 500 grams store-bought Gnocchi or short pasta or ravioli or tortellini)
- Half to 3/4 of the above sauce
- 8 basil leaves finely sliced or 2 Tbsp basil pesto
- 200 grams baby spinach leaves a few extra for garnish
- ½ cup cream or crème fraiche
- 1 ball of fior di latte fresh mozzarella
- A handful of grated Parmesan plus more for serving
Instructions
- Get the tomato sauce on the go by putting all the ingredients into a medium pot and bringing it to a low bubble. Simmer for 45 mins then blend the onion back into the sauce adding salt & pepper as necessary.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F so that it's ready when the sauce is done.
- When the sauce is nearly done, cook the gnocchi as per the manufacturer’s instructions in salted water until they are floating to the surface. About 1 – 1.5 minutes before it's done, add the spinach to the water and cook until it's wilted. Drain the gnocchi and wilted spinach in a colander and then decant into an oven-proof baking dish.
- Stir the cream or crème fraiche through half to 3/4 of the blended sauce and add the shredded basil (or pesto) and fold this through the gnocchi and spinach. Slice the Mozzarella into as many pieces as you can and dot these over the surface of the gnocchi. Sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese and bake for around 25 – 30 minutes until golden and bubbling.
- Serve straight away with a salad or crusty bread to mop up the sauce.
Notes
Store any leftover gnocchi with creamy tomato & spinach in the fridge. Reheat in a microwave.
Servings: 4