Gnocchi with Sun Dried Tomato Sauce, Melting Mozzarella and Basil
Total Prep and Cooking Time: 20 minutes plus 15 minutes soaking
Serves: 4
Vegetarian: Yes
Ingredients:
- Half a pack Sun Dried Tomatoes (50g)
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 500g packet of fresh gnocchi
- 1 mozzarella
- 20 large leaves of basil
- Salt, sugar and cayenne pepper
How to cook it:
- Boil your kettle. Put the Sun Dried Tomatoes into a small bowl; pour the water over the top then leave to soak for 15 minutes
- Put the onion and garlic into a shallow pan. Add the oil, cover and then soften over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tin of tomatoes and 100ml of water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes
- While the sauce simmers, chop the Sun Dried Tomatoes into bits the size of big raisins. Add them to the sauce then simmer for the last 5 minutes or so.
- Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil
- Slice the basil and chop the mozzarella into small (1.5cm) cubes
- Boil the gnocchi for 3 minutes, strain and shake well and then add to the sauce
- Stir in the mozzarella followed by the basil. Remove from the heat, season to taste with salt (don’t need much), sugar (to bring out the tomato’s flavour) and cayenne pepper. Serve
Prep Ahead: If you are only cooking for 2, separate half of the gnocchi and sauce before you add the mozzarella and basil. You can then keep it in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze for another time.
KIDS CORNER
At my house we only really need 3 portions, but because the gnocchi comes in bags of 500g, I always make a whole recipe and freeze one portion for an emergency supper. It is an excellent meal for kids that you can adapt to almost endlessly; I often add carrots, peppers or sweet potatoes to the sauce at the start or sliced baby spinach or rocket near the end. The chopped Sun Dried Tomatoes are a great hit with my kids, in the same way that dried fruit is.
This dish can be pureed for the tiny and toothless, but as with all gnocchi or pasta, either chop it by hand or puree it into tiny chunks with the pulse button, if you leave the motor running the puree will become very gluey.
