Recipe: Gnocchi, bacon and tomato bake

Gnocchi is such a wonderful little alternative to the traditional spud and combining it with a bit of butter and garlic can be a simple treat.

Over the past while I’ve been experimenting with gnocchi recipes and have come up with a bake that doesn’t take a a lot of time and uses ingredients you can find in all supermarkets.

I haven’t gotten around to making my own homemade gnocchi as of yet but I’ve heard that it’s easy enough to do so I’m looking forward to learning.

Here’s my recipe for a gnocchi bake – with the option of making it vegetarian by not adding the bacon lardons!

Serves 4

Time: About 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 500g gnocchi (store bought is fine!)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 large white onion (chopped finely)
• 1 red pepper (deseeded and chopped up finely)
• 150g of mozzarella
• 1 garlic clove (crushed)
• Oil for frying
• Handful of fresh basil
• 100g bacon lardons
• Salt and white pepper

Method:

1. Heat your oil in a large frying pan on high, and tip in your onion, bacon lardons, red pepper and cook until soft (5 minutes)
2. Add in your garlic and fry for a further minute then add in the chopped tomatoes and gnocchi.
3. Bring to simmer and let the mix bubble away for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on it because your don’t want your gnocchi to be overly soft but you want your sauce to thicken (I sometimes add some extra tomato purée for good measure)
4. In the meantime, turn on your grill to high and take out an oven proof dish.
5. After the gnocchi is cooked, season, stir through the basil and then transfer to the ovenproof dish.

6. Chop up your mozzarella into strips and lay across the top of the dish.  Grill for 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and has a golden look to it.

Serve with a fresh salad or on its own.

(Images and recipe copyright of Úna-Minh Kavanagh)