Last Night's Dinner: Gnocchi with Chorizo, Spinach and Mozzarella

The Recipe:

(Serves 2)

500g Gnocchi

1x400g carton chopped tomatoes

1 clove of garlic, crushed

200g baby leaf spinach

100g Chorizo

125g ball mozzarella, torn

  1.  Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water for two minutes less than the pack instructions then drain and add to a large, ovenproof dish

              2.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Add the chorizo to a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes until the chorizo is sizzling and browning at the edges. Stir in the crushed garlic, chopped tomatoes and spinach, washed and drained.

          3.  Heat through to wilt the spinach, season to taste and pour over the gnocchi. Scatter with the mozzarella and bake for 10-15 minutes until bubbling and golden.

Potential Tantrums

Burning Chorizo – personally, regardless of what the recipe says, I never cook anything dry because it ALWAYS catches. I assume it’s one of those instructions that’s fine if you have professional-grade cookware but as most people don’t oil is safer. Another way to make sure you don’t burn the chorizo is to get everything ready before you cook – it’s when you stop stirring and turn your attention away to wrestle with a carton of tomatoes or dig out the spinach that the problems can start.

Getting the right amount of ingredients – this recipe is designed for two people so if you’re cooking for more people remember that and multiply accordingly. If you forget then as a general rule you don’t need to increase the garlic, tomatoes or cheese, allow 100g spinach per person and 50g chorizo per person. I found that 500g of gnocchi was more than enough for 3 people but feel free to increase the amounts if you’re feeling greedy.

Potential Alterations and substitutions

I used frozen spinach instead of fresh because it’s cheaper and lasts longer. If you do the same just use the same amount per person as you would for the fresh.

In a spectacularly amateurish move I managed to forget to buy the ball mozzarella, however a substitution of ready grated mozzarella combined with grated cheddar is a perfectly acceptable alternative as is a combination of cheddar and parmesan.

With regards to the instructions the biggest alteration I made was with the cooking of the gnocchi. The recipe says to cook it for 2 minutes less than the pack advises which in the case of the pack I used was 0. Now I am generally in favour of minimising the washing up I have to do so rather than cooking the gnocchi separately, I held it back until the sauce was finished and then added it to the frying pan (if you plan to do this make sure you use a deep pan). As gnocchi requires very little cooking the liquid in the sauce should be sufficient. This has the added advantage of ensuring that the sauce and the gnocchi are well combined, making for an even distribution of both when serving.

Well, that’s how to cook gnocchi with spinach, chorizo and mozzarella the simple, free of tantrums way. It’s a great quick and healthy (a good two of your five a day) weekday supper. Give it a go and let me know how you got on and if you discover any more potential tantrums in the comments below!