Pillowy soft potato gnocchi bake, tossed in a creamy pesto infused artichoke and spinach sauce and baked under a bubbling golden blanket of melted cheese. This gnocchi bake did not come to play. It means business and it's on your team for the dinner game! A few simple ingredients all from Aldi and you're on your way to simple, easy dinner dominance!
These gorgeous fluffy potato dumplings known as gnocchi are the perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner. This gnocchi recipe is all made in one pan. So be sure that you use a skillet that can go from hob to oven then to the table. Because it's a weeknight and we're serving straight from the pan tonight. The pesto sauce is made in the pan and the gnocchi is simmered straight in. And there may or may not be a little splash of white wine to make this feel just the tiniest bit fancy!
Spinach & Artichoke Gnocchi Bake
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Ingredients Needed for Pesto Gnocchi Bake
- Gnocchi (see notes)
- Marinated grilled artichokes (be sure to drain them)
- Spinach
- Yellow onion
- White wine (see notes)
- Single cream
- Dried oregano
- Dried basil
- Garlic
- Extra mature gouda or similar
- Fresh thyme
- Pesto
- Olive oil
How to Make Gnocchi Bake Step By Step
- Start by warming some oil in a pan to sautee the onion and garlic. I've used a cast-iron skillet for this recipe because it goes from hob to oven and cooks the gnocchi evenly. But you can use stainless steel if that's what you've got. Once the onion and garlic are soft add in the dried herbs and cook for another minute or two.
- If your pan needs it, add another splash of oil to it and toss the gnocchi in the pan. Leave it for a minute or so before stirring it around. We want to get a light golden colour on all sides of the gnocchi. Once the gnocchi has coloured and is coated in the herbs and garlic, add in the wine to deglaze the pan. Use a wooden spoon to get all the little brown bits up and mixed into the wine.
- In the photos above you can see the colour of the sauce is from scraping up the brown bits! Once you've added in the wine, and creamy, you can add in the water, or use vegetable or chicken stock if you prefer. But there's so much flavour going into this with the artichokes and the pesto that I don't personally think it needs it. Simmer the gnocchi for about 5 minutes.
- Once the gnocchi is cooked and the sauce is thick add in the pesto, spinach and artichokes. The spinach can just be added in raw because the heat from the sauce will wilt it. Give it all a good stir and top it with cheese and bake for about 20 minutes.
What cheese to use for a gnocchi bake?
Pasta bakes and gnocchi bakes are obviously all about that cheese topping, right?! For the tomato gnocchi bake from last month, I used mozzarella because it's such a classic combination. But for this one, I wanted to make it a little different. This gnocchi bake is all about that basil pest and the artichokes. So, I used a gouda which has a nutty sweet flavour and is perfect for melting. I thought a cheddar would be far too strong for this kind of dinner. It also happens to pair well with white wine and since we've used some in the sauce it's perfect!
And holy moly! There we have it! An outrageously easy-vegetarian-one-pan-30-minute-creamy-spinachy-cheesy-pesto-gnocchi-bake. We are clearly living our best winter life right now!
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Easy Spinach & Artichoke Gnocchi Bake
Ingredients
- 500 g Fresh gnocchi *see notes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon dried basil
- 150 ml white wine *see notes
- 250 ml cream
- 250 ml water
- ½ bag baby spinach or use how much you like
- 1 jar marinated artichokes drained
- 4 tablespoons basil pesto
- 200 g gouda or similar cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat to sautee the onion and garlic. I've used a cast-iron skillet for this recipe because it goes from hob to oven and cooks the gnocchi evenly. But you can use stainless steel if that's what you've got. Once the onion and garlic are soft add in the dried herbs and cook for another minute or two.
- If your pan needs it, add another splash of oil to it and toss the gnocchi in the pan. Leave it for a minute or so before stirring it around. We want to get a light golden colour on all sides of the gnocchi. Once the gnocchi has coloured and is coated in the herbs and garlic, add in the wine to deglaze the pan. Use a wooden spoon to get all the little brown bits up and mixed into the wine.
- Once you've added in the wine, and cream, you can add in the water. Simmer the gnocchi for about 5 minutes, until they are cooked.
- Once the gnocchi is cooked and the sauce is thick add in the pesto, spinach and artichokes. The spinach can just be added in raw because the heat from the sauce will wilt it. Give it all a good stir and top it with cheese.
- Bake the gnocchi in the preheated oven (heated to 180ºc) for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden and bubbling. Serve from the pan.
Notes
- Note 1- Aldi sells a couple of different types of gnocchi. One is with the dried pasta in a vacuum sealed package. That type works with this recipe, but the gnocchi don’t turn out quite as soft and fluffy. So, I do recommend using the fresh gnocchi.
- Note 2- If you want to skip the alcohol in the recipe simply switch the wine for water.
- Note 3- If you have left overs, simply store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
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Brianna
Can't wait to try this! One question - what is the oven temperature? Step 5 only says "preheated oven"
Deborah Thompson
Thanks for catching that Brianna! Preheat the oven to 180ºc or 350ºf. Enjoy!