Thursday, August 28, 2014

Gnocchi with Tomatoes, Vegetables, Mushrooms, Chicken Sausage, and Basil

I really don't cook with gnocchi enough and I don't know why.  They're made with one of my favorite foods (potatoes) and they're like lil pillows of heavenly goodness.  Well problem now solved because I found my perfect gnocchi recipe!

This dish is super flavorful, adaptable, and quick to make.  I did most of my prep work on Sunday, as usual, and then on Thursday of that week I just had to cook up the gnocchi and throw everything else in the pan.  Makes for a great weeknight meal when you want something easy and yummy to make after a long day at work (and boy have I been having some long and terrible days at work lately).  And while I added my current favorite vegetables and mushrooms here you can add almost whatever vegetable you have handy.  If you'd like a drier dish you can leave out the can of diced tomatoes, but I like the extra sauciness it adds.

This is definitely getting added to my regular meal rotation because it's yummy and easy.  While I love all the recipes I post here, I definitely favor the easy and fast ones in my day-to-day cooking because that leaves more time for lounging with my pugs, and believe me I need a lot of that with the past few weeks I've been having at work.

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
1 pound gnocchi
12 ounces chicken sausage (I like a spicy kind with jalapenos), sliced
12-16 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 small/medium zucchini, chopped into half or quarter moons
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
10 ounces of baby bella mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, julienned
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Shaved or grated parmesan for topping (optional)

Instructions:

  • Boil salted water and cook 1 lb gnocchi for 2-3 minutes until the gnocchi just start floating to the top.  Drain well and toss with drizzle (or spray) of olive oil (this will prevent them from sticking together).  Set aside.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray the pan or drizzle some olive oil.  Add 12 oz chopped chicken sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the sausage starts to brown.
  • Push the sausage to the side of the skillet and add 12-16 oz halved grape/cherry tomatoes and cook on high heat for 1-3 minutes.
  • Stir the tomatoes and sausage together and add 10 oz chopped mushrooms, 1 chopped bell pepper, and 1 chopped zucchini to the skillet.  Stir together and cook for 2-4 minutes.
  • Add the gnocchi, the can of diced tomatoes, and 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper (optional) to the skillet and stir together.  Cook for a couple more minutes.
  • Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of basil.  
  • Salt and pepper to taste and top each bowl with some grated or shaved parmesan and enjoy!
And now time for the pictures!

I'm never without my two sous chefs, Sunny and Rosy.  Though it looks like one's sleeping on the job!
This dish was so yummy and flavorful but I also loved how bright and colorful it was.  I would've added more basil but most of my basil had already gone bad by the time I made this late in the week. Darn you perishables!  I really wish I had a nice garden with some fresh basil.
Basil is a nice topping and all but nothing really compares to cheese.  CHEESE.
And a nice sprinkling of coarse salt and black pepper and some crushed red pepper!  Rosy's tail was doing its happy helicopter twirl as soon as I got out the cheese.
Rosy put your licker away!
As soon as Rosy smelled the pepper the bowl lost all temptation.
Instead Rosy and Sunny patiently waited for me to finish taking pictures so that they could get their own lil pepper-free parmesan slivers as treats.
"Take that away human and place some fresh and clean parmesan stamps on our tongues!"
Adapted from The Kitchn.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe. I just finished making it for dinner and it is delicious. Even my teenagers love it! :) my pug loved the sausage ;)

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