Veggie-Packed Baked Gnocchi
Healthy Comfort Food Serves 4
All throughout this pregnancy, I have been craving cheesy carbs, carbs and more carbs! And now that I am over 6 months pregnant, I feel like this craving is just getting even more intense, not less! So I need to listen to my body and give it all of the glorious cheesy starches that it is so yearning for! But as always, I try to make it the healthiest version possible, filled with veggies. This utterly delicious baked gnocchi contains five different brightly coloured vegetables in the form of red onions, spinach, courgettes, aubergine and tomatoes, as well as some pan-fried spinach gnocchi (which contains 30% spinach itself) and balls of creamy organic mozzarella.
It is a wonderful dish to batch cook, as you can par-cook it and then pop it in the freezer. I love having food stored in the freezer that's just ready to jump out and give me a giant proverbial hug on those days when I am just too darn tired to cook. If I make it for my kids, I tend to sneakily chop up the courgettes and aubergines into tinier cubes, so that their beady eyes can't inspect each mouthful with a screwed up face and turn their noses up at it! Another sneaky way of hiding vegetables is to whizz 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, then there is no need to have to disguise the veggies as thankfully there's nothing on god’s green earth that my husband doesn't eat.
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. One portion provides 445 calories, 19g of protein, 3g of fibre and 66% of my daily Vitamin A requirements.
BAKED GNOCCHI INGREDIENTS
1 Red Onion
40g Baby Spinach
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 Spinach Gnocchi)
250g Mozzarella - roughly chopped into 1-inch cubes
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
P.S - Don’t forget - if you’re short on time, just use a jar of tomato pasta sauce instead of making your own. Simply fry the courgettes and aubergines and pour over the sauce!
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 saute the chopped onion 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 1/2 a tin's worth of water) 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.
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 saute 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.
Finish off with sprinkling some chopped fresh basil and bake in the oven for 25-30 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 - 445
Protein - 19g
Fat - 21g
Carbohydrates - 39g
Fibre - 3g
Vitamin A - 66%
Vitamin C - 18%
Iron - 7%
Calcium -3%