The squashy, starchiness of gnocchi is so pleasing, and pleasing food is what I want to be eating at the moment. This far into the COVID-19 pandemic, I think that I/ we all have lost some of the cheerful early energy of “We are all pulling together!” and at least it was Spring and we could do things outdoors. Now it’s nine months in and it’s apparently always Winter but never Christmas and all I want to do is hear really great news about vaccines and eat my feelings by way of carbohydrates. I want to eat cheesy, starchy things all the time with enough vegetables around the edges so I’m not afraid of getting scurvy. This gnocchi is exactly the sort of thing to eat during cold, quarantine times.
It has just as much richness and indulgence and cheesiness as a lasagna, but it’s way quicker and easier to make. You don’t even need to pre-cook the gnocchi, they will cook in the sauce.
This is quite a large dish, so it makes plenty of leftovers, depending how many people you are trying to feed. It’s luxurious enough that it would work for a dinner party (after the pandemic is over) but it’s a quick and easy weeknight meal too. You could use it as a side dish, but I ate it with green salad and it was a perfect, simple meal. It freezes well, so if you want to cook up the whole batch in two dishes, you can wrap one tightly in cling film and freeze it for later. I made enough for a big 9”X13” tray, but this could easily be halved if you want less.
Also, feel free to tweak the ingredients. Throw in extra vegetables like spinach, arugula or artichokes, swap out the cheeses, add in tiny meatballs (especially if they are about the same size as the gnocchi!). This is a template that could be endlessly modified.
goat cheese & tomato baked gnocchi
2 pounds gnocchi (2 packs)
3 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup tinned crushed tomatoes
½ cup chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups shredded mozzarella
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
Heat oven to 375º F.
Coat the bottom of a 9”x13” pan with tomato sauce. Toss gnocchi and tomatoes over the sauce. Drizzle stock over top. Sprinkle goat cheese and mozzarella overtop.
Bake until the tomatoes are blistered, the sauce is thickened and bubbling and the cheese is golden - about 25-30 minutes. Let sit for around 15 minutes to set up. Serve with some torn basil leaves and a green salad.
