Gnocchi with spinach & sun-dried tomato cream sauce
February 3, 2011 at 11:47 pm 2 comments
I love gnocchi as an alternative to pasta. Like pasta it will happily swim in an endless variety of sauces and flavours and I also like that it feels a bit fancy even though it is actually easier to make than pasta. The dish pictured here is a spinach and sun-dried tomato cream sauce with fresh tomatoes on top; a spicy tomato sauce swirled with fresh herbs and a bit of goat cheese is also delicious.
Tackling homemade gnocchi is on my list of cooking adventures to try someday, but for now I just use the packaged variety from the pasta aisle at the grocery store.
Gnocchi with spinach and sun-dried tomato cream sauce
Serves 2 for dinner
1 package of gnocchi
1 tablespoon of olive or canola oil
1/2 of a medium sized onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup dry white wine (or vegetable stock if you’d rather drink the wine)
1 cup of cream (if you’re calorie-minded you can also use non-fat evaporated milk)***
1 tablespoon of basil pesto
2-3 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1-2 chopped fresh tomatoes
parmesan cheese & fresh ground pepper
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the gnocchi. Add onions and oil to another pan and cook on medium until the onions soften and start to brown. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and add the wine (or stock) to deglaze the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the wine has reduced a bit and stir in the cream, pesto and spinach. Turn down the heat to low and allow the sauce to warm for a few minutes while you’re cooking the gnocchi.
Drop the gnocchi in the boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes – just until the gnocchi are bobbing at the surface of the water. Drain well and return to the pot.
Pour the sauce over the drained gnocchi and then dish it into plates. Top with fresh tomatoes, grated parmesan cheese and fresh pepper. Serve with a salad and whatever is left of the wine you used for cooking.
*** I am cooking with cream these days. Life is short.
Entry filed under: Cooking, Local food, Recipes. Tags: cream, gnocchi, parmesan, pesto, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes.
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