Pesto gnocchi, foil on then off
The gnocchi never see a pot of water. They steam under foil in the pesto instead.
At a Glance
Story
The foil is doing the boiling. Two tablespoons of water and a tightly covered tray turn the oven into a steamer, and shelf-stable gnocchi cook through in that trapped steam without ever going near a pot. Leave the foil off and the top layer dries into little pebbles before the ones underneath are done, which is the only way to get this wrong.
Ingredients
- 12 oz shelf-stable gnocchi
- 6 tbsp basil pesto
- 3 oz baby spinach
- 4 oz grape tomatoeshalved
- 2 tbsp mascarpone
- 4 oz fresh mozzarellatorn
- ¼ cup Parmesangrated
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
Two steps, one tray, and the second step is mostly taking the foil off. Worth knowing about for the evenings that have gone badly.
- Oven to 450°F. In a roasting tray, combine the gnocchi, pesto, mascarpone, spinach, tomatoes and as much of the pepper flakes as you like. Add 2 tablespoons of water, season and stir properly.
- Cover the tray tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.
- Off with the foil, careful of the steam. Scatter the torn mozzarella over the top and return it, uncovered, for 4 to 6 minutes, until the cheese has melted and blistered in places.
- Let it stand 3 minutes, then Parmesan over the top.
The standing time matters more than it sounds. Straight out of the oven the sauce is loose and slides off the spoon; three minutes and it comes together.
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