Baked Gnocchi

Sometimes I don’t know if there’s anything more appropriate as winter food than baked pasta. It’s cheesy, its gooey, its hearty and it’s just delicious. Just thinking about it now makes me salivate… a lot.

Anyway, the reason I’ve been craving baked pasta lately is because of my sister in law Amy. My boyfriend and I went to visit her and my brother in Orlando over our winter break to see my new niece. During our visit Amy made baked rigatoni for dinner one night, and it was one of the best things I’ve eaten in a while. I kid you not. Since then I’ve been dreaming of different types of baked pasta: baked spaghetti, baked penne, baked ziti and recently baked gnocchi. (For those of you who don’t know what gnocchi is it’s basically a little pasta dumpling usually made out of potato, flour and a few other ingredients. If you’ve never tried them you should. They’re to die for.)

So I set out to make baked gnocchi and all things considered it was a success! It was a bit cheesy, but you’ll never hear me complain about that! Give this recipe a try, it’s incredibly simple and it’s perfect for weeknight dinners when you don’t want to put a lot of effort into dinner. It’s everything you could possibly want after a long day at work or in classes. It’s warm, its hearty, it’s cheesy, it’s satisfying, it’s a little sweet because of the tomato sauce, but it’s salty and creamy because of the cheese. You should try this recipe, it’s just that good.

What you’ll need:

• 1- 1 pound box of gnocchi
• 8 ounces of ricotta cheese
• 12 ounces of mozzarella cheese
• 12 ounces of tomato sauce
• Two tablespoons of parmesan cheese

First, cook the gnocchi according to the instructions on the box (typically when they’re floating you’ll know they’re ready.)

While the gnocchi is cooking, mix the 8 ounces of ricotta cheese, ¾ of the mozzarella cheese (8 oz) and ¾ of the tomato sauce (8 oz) in a bowl.

When the gnocchi is cooked place it in the bowl with the cheese and sauce and mix together with a spoon or spatula. Don’t use your hands since the pasta will be incredibly hot.

When the gnocchi, sauce and cheese are mixed pour into an oven-safe dish (I used a 9” pie dish, but you can use whatever you’d like.) Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella and the tomato sauce onto the top of the mixture and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Let it sit for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven and then serve. Add the parmesan cheese to taste.