- Serves 2 - 3 - Ready in 1 hour -
*uses up 2 large handfuls of spinach leaves*
Gather together…
1 x 500g pack of ready-made, vacuum-packed potato gnocchi (posh brands usually taste much better than supermarket own-brand versions).
3 tbsp oil (olive oil or rapeseed oil).
3 peppers (red, yellow and orange ideally) - cut up into large, square-ish chunks, approximately 3cm x 3cm.
12 Chicken chipolata sausages ('Heck Italia' brand are nice, if your local butcher doesn't stock poultry sausages), raw.
Pinch of ground pepper.
1/2 tsp smoked paprika.
2 big handfuls of spinach leaves (washed well and chopped up into small strips with scissors).
Serve with...
EITHER, toasted pitta breads and hummus / mayonnaise.
OR, a small jar of tomato-based stir in pasta sauce, e.g. the 200g jar of 'Seeds of Change' Sun-dried Tomato and Basil (available at Tesco) - this sauce is really delicious, it tastes homemade.
Get cooking…
1. Boil a kettle full of water.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 C (180 C fan) or Gas 6.
3. Tip the 500g of vacuum-packed gnocchi into a medium bowl and cover with the boiling kettle-water. Stir and leave the gnocchi to soak for 2 minutes, then drain VERY WELL in a colander / sieve.
4. Put the 3 tbsp of oil into a large, oven-safe, at-least-5cm-deep-sided baking tray (metal or ceramic is fine), approximately 30cm x 20cm in size.
5. To the oven tray add the 3 roughly-chopped peppers, the well-drained gnocchi and the raw, chicken sausages.
6. Sprinkle the pinch of pepper over the top of the ingredients on the tray and mix everything together really well so that everything is covered in oil.
7. Ensure that the sausages are LAYING ON THE BASE OF THE TRAY so they get enough heat to cook through.
8. Bake for 45 minutes - giving the tray a good stir every 15 minutes, so that the ingredients on the edge don't burn. Each time you finish mixing do ensure that the sausages are still laying on the base of the pan.
9. Meanwhile wash the two handfuls of spinach really well, squeeze the moisture out and chop up into strips with scissors. Sprinkle the spinach strips with the 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika.
10. After the 45 minutes has passed, add the chopped spinach slices to the tray, and the 200g jar of stir-in pasta sauce (if using). Stir well and give the tray a final 5 minutes in the oven, to wilt the spinach (and to heat the pasta sauce through - if using).
11. Serve with the toasted pitta and hummus / mayonnaise (if using, instead of the pasta sauce) and enjoy!
This recipe was adapted from a BBC Good Food recipe entitled 'Sausage Bake with Gnocchi' - I added in the step to pre-soak the gnocchi and then I bake it for longer so everything crisps up deliciously.