NTHNHS: Health and Wellbeing Magazine - Issue 1, October 2021

A recipe of love

by Ruth Dalton, Head of Communications and Marketing

Chorizo Gnocchi Bake

I first discovered this recipe when I was working for City of Bristol College. Our horticulture students had an abundance of spinach – it had been a good year for the crop, and staff benefited from the mass production with free veggies to take home for what seemed like months.

As I drove home with a boot full of the stuff, I started to wonder just what I was going to actually do with it. I hate waste, so as soon as I got in – Google was my friend. The BBC Food site is an absolute game changer for chucking in a list of ingredients and producing some great recipes, without any real thought or input from my culinary expertise and me.

There it was – chorizo gnocchi bake – warm, hearty – and most importantly full of spinach. I set to work in the kitchen creating what was soon to become a firm family favourite. At that time my stepdaughter lived at home with us, long before her vegetarian, vegan and other dietary updates hit us.

As I was cooking she wandered into the kitchen to find out what the wonderful smell was that was besieging the house. Proudly, I lifted the dish from the oven to showcase my toils of the evening.

That night we sat around the table and tucked into my first bake – encouraging the small people by explaining the spinach was fortified with goodness and would make them strong and healthy. My Popeye reference was completely lost on them, but they ate up with joy.

Whenever my stepdaughter visits from Cardiff, and asks for a preview of the menu of the days ahead…I know what she is really asking. Chorizo gnocchi bake is a firm favourite in the Dalton house, it means coming home, family and spinach inducing muscles. J

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

A bag of young spinach

2 garlic cloves, crushed

120g chorizo, diced

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

600g fresh gnocchi

125g mozzarella ball, cut into chunks

Method

I start by heating up the oil in a pan, then chucking in the garlic and onion to soften (careful not to burn). I try and use a griddle pan – I read somewhere that the oil from the chorizo can move around more freely (not sure how true this is). Throw in the chorizo and wait for the wonderful smell that starts to emanate from the pan. Get the tomatoes in the pan and season, then add the spinach on top. It’ll start to wilt (not sure that’s the technical term…but hey ho).

Meanwhile I’ve heated up a pan of hot water for the gnocchi. I’ve not made it from scratch before, so I buy fresh from the supermarket. I should really try and create my own. In the pan it goes to soften, all the time I am stirring the pan of spinach and chorizo goodness.

Grabbing a baking dish, I drain the gnocchi (after about five minutes cooking) and pour it into the bottom of the dish. Sometimes, for good measure I stir in a bit of pesto. I pour the tomato, chorizo, onion and spinach sauce over the top of the gnocchi and set to work tearing up the mozzarella, wholly satisfying.

Layering that over the top of the sauce, I bake in an oven at 180 (standard mam temperature) for around 25 minutes and then serve – sometimes for double carb heaven I bake some bread to dip in the remaining sauce. Not that often mind, it’s not masterchef.

That’s it – a family favourite that’s good for a winter treat once in a while, as long as it is all balanced with a good healthy diet the rest of the time!