Cheesy Baked Gnocchi
This dish makes a great hot dinner on a cold winter night. I usually make baked gnocchi without any meat but I have made it with spicy Italian turkey sausage before. It’s delicious either way. When I make it with meat I’ll fully cook the meat, let it cool off, and chop it up to about the same size of the gnocchi I’m using.
Ingredients:
16 oz Gnocchi
1/3 Cup Bacon, roughly chopped
1/2-3/4 lb Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, roughly chopped
1.5 Cups Tomato Sauce
1/2 Pint Cherry Tomatoes, halved
3 Garlic Cloves, crushed
2 TBSP Fresh Oregano
Crushed Red Pepper, optional
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the gnocchi to package instructions. Drain the gnocchi when it is finished cooking.
2. Roughly chop your bacon and lightly brown it in a pan. I sop up as much of the fat released from the bacon with a paper towel as I can. Once the bacon is sufficiently browned, remove it from the heat and set aside.
3. Chop up your fresh mozzarella. I try to chop the mozzarella pieces to be equal to the size of the gnocchi.
4. Combine the gnocchi, bacon, chopped mozzarella, tomato sauce, halved cherry tomatoes, crushed garlic, and the fresh oregano in a bowl. Mix until all ingredients are spread out evenly. Transfer everything into a baking dish and cover the dish with a lid or with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.
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