Gnocchi con pomodoro

[Rob Courtney]

Or Gnocchi with a bit of a tomato sauce mate.

I used store bought Gnocchi as I am a lazy man and I didn't feel like spending today baking potatoes and then making Gnocchi because well...sod that.

So you will need 

Half an onion diced (red or brown)

4 cloves of garlic sliced thinly

1/4 cup of fresh continental parsley

1/4 cup fresh basil

2 tins of diced tomato or 4 to 5 frsh tomatoes

cup of chicken stock

I did use the whole 400gms bag of gnocchi for two...lol

approx 50-75gms of a soft white cheese ( I used Boccicinni because it was that or nothing where i live) could use Assiago cheese though

chunk of butter

loose handful of parmesan cheese

 

This can be about a 10-20 minute prep...an hour if you hit the cans early but what I like is when it is prepped, it is so easy to get done from there.

 

 

Into a pan (I used a wok), saute the onions and garlic for a minute constatntly stirring

 

 

Then add tomatoes, parsley and basil and let cook for a minute before adding the stock. Once stock is added, leave it on medium to medium high heat so it stays at a rolling bubble and reduces by a third and thickens

 

 

Cook the Gnocchi, now, to be perfectly honest, it is easier to just boil them in a pot with heavily salted water but there is something about potato, fried in butter that warms an Irishmans heart

 

 

It's almost done but keep in mind, boiling takes 2 minutes, frying takes 5-10 mins. When the sauce is thickened, throw in a loose handful of parmesan, a good slice of butter not margerine... and give it a taste and season. Depending on how much parmesan you have thrown in, combined with the reduced stock, you may nothave to go heavy on salt. Then, chop up some Boccocini (or what cheese you have...not Kraft chees slices...)

 

 

Then add it altogether in a bowl (obviously a better bowl than the stirfry bowls I am using) but still, add a few basil leaves on top. The soft cheese will melt into the sauce so you can get away without Parmesan but it won't harm.

 

This does eat pretty well and has good flavours, pretty good for a winter meal (where I live, it's always winter...) I did try this one with a 3 week old Aussie Premium hopped with Tetts, Spalt and Hersbrucker, which went down pretty well

[Rob Courtney]

You can always substitute fresh herbs for dried herbs...it would cut down prep time

[Dustin Frothman]

Looks great. 

[Dave Lock]

It does look good. I'm a sucker for gnocchi. The store bought gnocchi, is it on the chewy side or tender? 10 years ago when I was still in Aus I used to buy the fresh gnocchi (if I recall the brand was something like Latina?), it was good but just a fraction on the chewy side. I haven't seen that packet you've got so if it's tender I'll try it when I get back. What brand is it?

[Dave Lock]

Scrap that, I just checked Coles online ... by the packaging it looks like Grand Italian brand. Cheers.