Gnocchi, Tomato & Summer Veggie Bake
Prep Time:35 mins, Cook Time: 5 mins, Total Time: 40 mins
May 20, 2015
It’s National Vegetarian Week this week folks, a week that encourages the UK to go ‘veggie’ and explore new and delicious vegetarian meals. Whilst we’re not all-out veggies here at Eat Your Veg, by our very namesake we are partial to a meatless meal pretty often!. Probably three or four days a week I’d guess at, sometimes more. And we’re virtually always a #MeatFreeMonday household, which I’m really pleased to see is on a boom lately. It’s interesting how many people are cutting down on their meat consumption and meals isn’t it? Are you? I know I’m ever-conscience of the amount I buy and consume, and it’s definitely becoming noticeably less over the years. To be honest neither of my kids are that bothered about eating meat and could probably very easily go veggie. Though I think Jac would be unhappy not to have his quota of fish which he’s currently a bit obsessed about!.
My easy Gnocchi, Tomato & Summer Veggie Bake is a recipe I had planned for my after school ‘Healthy Dinners Club’ this week. It’s a National Lottery funded scheme with the aim that all children at the school will take part in five cook sessions preparing healthy dinners to take home for their families to enjoy. Being National Vegetarian Week I thought we’d go with it and get them making a delicious and uber-easy-to-prep veggie treat. Extremely budget friendly too. But sadly illness took hold at Eat Your Veg HQ and I had two heavily bugged and poorly children to tend so had to cancel. Instead we’ll be making the gnocchi in our next session after half term.
I’m sharing my recipe with Betta Living’s National Vegetarian Week event #bettaveggies
Also with mine and Vanesther’s Family Foodies event, this month we’ve an Italian theme, Ciao Bambino!
Onion, Garlic, Tomatoes, Peppers, Courgette, Aubergine
Great For:
Toddlers, Big Kids, Grown Ups, Family Lunches or Dinners, Mid-Week Quickies, Vegetarians, Making with Kids
Notes:
For a extra oomph try adding a pinch of dried chilli flakes at the same time as the tomato passata.
Special Equipment:
An ovenproof dish.
Gnocchi, Tomato & Summer Veggie Bake
Ingredients Prep Time:35 mins, Cook Time: 5 mins, Total Time: 40 mins
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper, diced into 1 cm pieces
1 smallish courgette, diced into 1 cm cubes
1 smallish aubergine, diced into 1 cm cubes
1 680g jar tomato passata
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 heaped tsp dried oregano
1 x 500g pack gnocchi
1 pinch each of sugar, salt & pepper
1 ball Mozzarella
2 tbsps Grana Padano, or a vegetarian Grana Padano/Parmesan style cheese, finely grated
1. Prepare all your veggies according to the ingredients list.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onions and cook for 5 mins stirring from time to time.
3. Add the garlic, pepper, courgette and aubergine to the onions plus 1 tablespoon of water. Cook for 10 minutes stirring from time to time so nothing catches.
4. Add the tomato passata, tomato puree, oregano, gnocchi and a pinch each of sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes with the lid on until the vegetables and gnocchi are tender and cooked.
5. Tip into a large ovenproof dish.
6. Tear or slice the Mozzarella and place on the top, sprinkle over the grated Grana Padano.
7. Place under a hot grill for 5 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.
8. Serve hot with a green side salad.
When I lived in Italy we would have gnocchi regularly, they are a great vehicle for a fantastic sauce!
I love baked dishes and this looks super delicious.
Mid-week quickies? Sounds delicious Lou and yes please to the pinch of chilli 🙂
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Adore gnocchi but never tried it in a bake before - definitely going to be trying this dish out on my lot here! So sorry to hear you’ve all been ill. Hope you’re all fighting fit again now? And have you tried the bake out yet with your Healthy Dinners Club? Was it a winner?
Thanks Vanesther. It actually went down really well with the after school club. Initially they were all doubtful about the prospect of a meatless meal, especially one with so many veggies. But the feedback by the end of the session and the next day was great!