Courgette and tomato gnocchi bake

I still had a giant courgette left and some gnocchi plus a cupboard full of store ingredients. It was also really cold outside, I had been to hot yoga and I fancied something really hearty and warming.

I knocked up my quick tomato sauce, added shop bought gnocchi to it and topped with plenty of cheese. Why shop bought gnocchi? See my post of the great gnocchi making fiasco of 2013. I suspect, I might only attempt this again with a wholly different recipe in 2014 at the earliest.

What you will need

1 giant courgette (or 2 normal)

1 packet of gnocchi

1 jar of passata
3 cloves garlic
175ml red wine
1 table spoon balsamic vinegar
1 table spoon tomato puree
Cheddar

Parmesan

Simply chop the cloves of garlic. Add to some olive oil and fry gently just for a minute. Add the small jar of passata, the red wine, the balsamic vinegar, tomato puree and salt and pepper. Cook at a medium heat for 10-15 minutes until reduced and thickened

Half the courgettes and slice them lengthways into ribbons. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan and brown the courgettes flat on one side then the other.

Mix together the courgette with the gnocchi in a baking dish and pour over the tomato sauce and stir through.

Grate over enough cheddar and parmesan to cover the top – this will depend on the width of your casserole dish and possibly how much you like cheese!

Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 45-50 minutes until the cheese has melted and browned and the gnocchi has cooked through.

Serve steaming hot.