Courgette gnocchi with tomato sauce

A light, summery dish with vibrant lemon notes.

Serves 2-3

vegetarian

Ingredients

For the sauce:

1tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium brown onion, diced

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

sugar to taste

herbs do Provence (or oregano)

For the gnocchi:

2 medium courgettes, grated

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 cup loosely packed basil, sliced

2 teaspoons lemon zest

250g ricotta

2 eggs

1/4 cup Parmesan, grated

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 - 1 cup flour

Directions

  1. Put the grated courgettes in a sieve over a plate/bowl and salt. Set aside.
  2. Heat the oil in a small saucepan and gently fry the onion. You want it to become translucent but not brown.
  3. Add the garlic, salt and herbs, stir, and cook for a further minute or two.
  4. Add the tomatoes, stir, cover, and reduce heat to the lowest setting. The sauce will cook while you do every thing else.
  5. Squeeze as much moisture as you can from the courgettes.
  6. In a large bowl, combine all the gnocchi ingredients except the flour.
  7. Add 1/2 cup flour and stir. The key to light gnocchi is not using too much flour, so at this point you have to add in some flour until the gnocchi are not too sticky to handle, but not too dry either.
  8. Bring a large bowl of water to the boil. Use two dessert spoons to shape the gnocchi mixture into balls, and drop one or two into your pan. When the gnocchi float they are cooked, so use a slotted spoon to remove. Continue cooking the gnocchi in batches.
  9. Taste the tomato sauce, and add sugar if it's too sharp.
  10. Divide the gnocchi between your serving bowls, top with tomato sauce, and enjoy!

NB: can be reheated in the microwave the next day if you have leftovers.

This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)

Courgette gnocchi with tomato sauce in bowl