Pumpkin Baked Gnocchi
HEALTHY COMFORT FOOD
SERVES 4 ADULTS (or 2 adults, 2 kids and then leftovers for the freezer)
As the cold weather is officially upon us and the threat of another imminent lockdown looms, all I am craving is comforting food that will give me a proverbial hug and reassure me that all will be ok if the dreaded sequel to the horror movie ‘Home-Schooling Hell’ comes out soon!
But this isn’t just a bowl of cheesy simple carbs – it is a perfectly balanced meal that is:
· Most importantly, so very delicious
· Kid-friendly
· Loaded with five different brightly coloured vegetables
· High in protein
· Meat-free
· Gluten Free
· Easily made vegan by leaving out the cheese
This tasty family-friendly dinner contains an actual rainbow of vegetables in the form of orange pumpkins (it is October after all!), red onions, green courgettes, purple aubergines and red tomatoes; as well as some pan-fried gnocchi (which contains 43% pumpkin itself), balls of creamy organic mozzarella and cannellini beans. As a general rule, we all tend not to eat nearly enough legumes, so this dish is a great way to add them to your diet and it’s as simple as opening the tin and chucking them in!
I am currently borderline obsessed with batch cooking for the freezer at the moment. There really is nothing quite like opening that freezer door on those inevitably crazy days and seeing an entire one-dish-meal ready for the whole family to enjoy together. And this healthy comfort food is the perfect example of that.
One portion provides 556 calories, 22g of protein, a quarter of my daily fibre and almost 40% of my daily Vitamin C requirements.
TOP TIP FOR FUSSY KIDS
I tend to sneakily chop up the courgettes and aubergines into tiny cubes, so that my finickity kids’ eyes can't inspect each mouthful with a screwed up face and turn their noses up at it! Or else when they were younger, I used to hide the vegetables by simply whizzing them all up in the blender once they've been sautéed with the tomato sauce. That way they are fully concealed and the little ones are none the wiser that they have been fed a ton of goodness! But obviously, if I am just cooking for adults (or indeed a kid that doesn’t have a courgette radar on high alert!), then there is no need to have to disguise the veggies. Of course, if you are short on time, you can majorly simplify this dish by using a shop-bought jar of pasta sauce instead of making your own.
BAKED GNOCCHI INGREDIENTS
1 Red Onion
2 Leeks
1 Aubergine (approx 200g)
1-2 Courgettes (approx 200g)
2 x 400g tins of Chopped Tomatoes
300-400g Gnocchi (I used Rana's Pan-fried Pumpkin Gnocchi)
250g Mozzarella - roughly chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 tin Cannellini Beans (drained and fully rinsed)
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Sugar of your choice (I used Erythritol)
1 Tbsp Good Quality Balsamic Vinegar (I used Belazu)
Chopped Fresh Basil
Salt & Pepper to taste
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Chop all of the vegetables into bite-sized cubes.
In a large, deep (preferably oven-proof) frying pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and sauté the chopped onion and leeks for a few minutes before adding the chopped courgettes and aubergines. Continue to cook until they are just starting to brown.
Then add the 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (plus ½ a tin's worth of water or vegetable stock) and turn the heat down to simmer for 5 minutes.
Then add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and combine well.
Season with salt and pepper and any herbs you might want to use - I used chopped fresh basil.
Drain and thoroughly rinse the cannellini beans; and add them to the tomato sauce.
Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes while you prepare the rest.
Cook the gnocchi as per the instructions on the packet. So if they need to be pan-fried, then sauté them in a little butter or oil. If they need to be boiled, then do so in some salted boiling water for several minutes. Drain and set aside.
If the frying pan is oven-proof, then simply nestle in the gnocchi and mozzarella cubes in amongst the vegetable sauce.
If not, then transfer it all to an oven-proof dish.
Note – if you are batch cooking some, then let it cool, cover it with foil and freeze it now.
If you are not freezing it, then finish it off with sprinkling some chopped fresh basil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes until the cheese is bubbling. Or else if you are short on time, you can put under a high grill for 5 minutes but be careful not to burn it.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Calories - 556
Protein - 22g
Fat - 23g
Carbohydrates - 51g
Fibre - 7g
Vitamin C – 38%
Vitamin A – 19%
Iron – 18%
Calcium – 8%