As I mentioned in my summer recap, I haven't been trying new recipes lately. When my life gets overwhelming—and between traveling, freelancing, blogging, and trying to stay on an even keel emotionally, this summer has been overwhelming—my cooking gets simpler and simpler. I've been relying on a handful of old recipes (this cauliflower has been getting a lot of play lately, and I've been adapting this recipe by swapping in regular potatoes and thyme). Fresh sliced tomatoes with basil and boiled corn-on-the-cob have been in heavy rotation. As of late I have been honing my egg frying technique, because if you add an egg with a perfectly runny yolk to just about anything—rice, leftover roasted potatoes, oatmeal—it becomes, in my opinion, a respectable meal.
But in between the roasted cauliflower and the fried eggs, I printed out a recipe I bookmarked last year from the Kitchn. At the time, I was intrigued by the technique: instead of boiling shelf-stable gnocchi, you roast it along with a sheet pan full of vegetables. The recipe also utilizes my favorite summer seasoning trifecta of basil, garlic, and olive oil (pasta with fresh sauce, anyone?) So when we received both a pint of grape tomatoes and a bag of baby bell peppers in our CSA box a couple weeks ago, giving this recipe a try seemed meant to be.
If you don't need to carefully arrange the peppers by color for food photography purposes, this recipe comes together relatively quickly. I was quite impressed with the texture of the roasted gnocchi—it has a light fluffiness more akin to the fresh gnocchi I've eaten in restaurants rather than the heaviness I'm used to from boiled shelf-stable gnocchi. The tomatoes and peppers make this a late summer/early fall recipe if you want to eat seasonally, but I think it actually would work as a welcome burst of freshness during the long Minnesota winter. Aldi often offers baby bell peppers as a sale item, and I've had decent luck with grocery store cherry tomatoes, plus roasting would emphasize the sweetness in less-than-ripe peppers and tomatoes.
Adapted from the Kitchn
Serves 4 as a light entree
Ingredients:
- (500 gram) package shelf-stable gnocchi
- (12 ounce) package baby bell peppers (about 15 peppers), halved and seeded
- 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
Place the gnocchi, baby bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until evenly coated. Spread the gnocchi mixture in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
Roast for 18-20 minutes, stirring halfway through baking time, or until the vegetables are caramelized and the gnocchi are tender. Garnish with basil and Parmesan.
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