I really struggled to come up with a title for this post… ‘tomato basil spinach sausage gnocchi’ is a bit of a mouthful… But it’s also so tasty and so easy. I’ve been making a rendition of this gnocchi for years now, just adding in whatever vegetables I have at home and free-handing the measurements. After making it for a girls night and my friends loving the dish, I decided the recipe needed to be written down!
The tomatoes cook down and make a sauce that coats the gnocchi. Adding garlic and basil paste gives you tons of flavor with minimal ingredients. I love cooking with chicken sausage because I feel like it’s a healthier protein choice, but you could use any type of sausage, or even ground beef! Also this could easily be made a low carb by using Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi.
Ingredients
- 16oz package of gnocchi (I like to use Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi)
- 13oz pre-cooked chicken or turkey sausage, sliced 1/3 inch thick
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 2 large handfuls fresh spinach
- 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tbsp basil paste
- 1 tbsp pasta water
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken sausage and cook until browned on each side, about three minutes per side.
- *If using the frozen cauliflower gnocchi add it frozen to the pan with the chicken sausage and pan fry.
- Remove chicken sausage from pan and set aside. Turn down heat to medium-low and add two tbsp olive oil. Add cherry tomatoes and cook for six minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While tomatoes are cooking, cook gnocchi according to package. Drain gnocchi and set aside, reserving one tbsp of pasta water. Tomatoes should have started to cook down and break open. Add two cloves minced garlic and cook for one minute then add two tbsp basil paste and stir to combine.
- Add fresh spinach and stir until wilted.
- Add chicken sausage, cooked gnocchi, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan and one tbsp of reserved pasta water to pan and stir to combine.
- Serve immediately, topping with more fresh Parmesan if desired… which it should be 😉
Funny story – one of my girlfriends cannot pronounce gnocchi for the life of her. We were out once and she ordered it by the name of ‘ganache’ 😂 So now that’s what we call it. It’s so tasty it’s almost as good as chocolate anyways!
Biscuits & blessings,
Leels
Thanks Leela, been wondering what I could do with that package of gnocchi, looks delicious will try this weekend.
I’m half Sicilian and my dad always made sure we knew how to pronounce things even as kids. He taught me “knee-oak-ee” 😉