Gnocchi Bake
Gnocchi Bake
Ingredients
400g maris piper potatoes or a floury potato, cleaned with skin on
Approx. 125g plain flour (extra for dusting)
1 egg yolk
Pinch of fine sea salt and ground black pepper
Olive oil
Fresh basil leaves
1 onion finely diced
1 large garlic clove minced
80g sun dried tomato paste
Approx. 300ml veg or chicken stock
3 tbsp of cream cheese
1 ball of fresh mozzarella sliced
Couple of handfuls of chopped wilted spinach
Salt and pepper
Method
In a large saucepan place the potatoes with their skin on in cold water and bring to the boil
Boil for about 10-15 min until tender, you should be able to insert a skewer into the potato without resistance
Carefully peel the skin off (I usually wear my rubber gloves) and place them in a ricer
Rice the potatoes into a large mixing bowl
Then add in 110g of the plain flour first, an egg yolk and gently chop the ingredients with a scraper/knife into each other. The more you work it the denser it will be, do not be tempted to use your hands and squeeze all the ingredients together
If your dough is still very sticky, add in the rest of the flour
Once the dough roughly comes together, knead just until it is smooth and no more
Divide the dough into 4 and roll into logs approx. 2 cm in diameter
Cut into 2cm lengths
Dust the dough with some flour before shaping the gnocchi
Shape the gnocchi by rolling the chunks down the tines of the fork – using your thumb to press the dough into the tines and create the shape
Place on a lined baking tray and dust with plain flour to stop them sticking to each other
Leave to air dry for about 15 min.
In a frying pan add 1 tsp veg oil and cook the onions and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes
Then add in the sundried tomato puree and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the stock
Stir in the wilted spinach
Add the gnocchi to a pan of boiling water and cook until they float
Remove from the pan and keep to one side in a colander
Finish the sauce with cream cheese and mix through
Now add in the cooked gnocchi and make sure they are coated well in the sauce
Taste and season to your preference
Pour into a baking dish
Sprinkle liberally with the grated mozzarella
Place torn of pieces of the mozzarella ball on top and grill the dish for about 5 minutes until golden
Garnish with basil leaves
