It doesn't have to be Monday to have a 'Meat Free' dinner! This recipe is super simple, super tasty, very textural and great to have up your sleeve for those mid week occassions when the fridge looks bare - it can even be made with leftover cooked potatoes or veggies as it's easy to swap things out. I love using things from the garden so I tend to cook with what's on hand and enjoy finding new and interesting ways to use up mystaple herbs, lemons and potatoes.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp
Garlic, oil
0
Salt, to season
0
Pepper, to season
Gnocchi
1 kg
Floury potatoes, Peeled & chopped into large chunks
To make the gnocchi: cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling water, if you have a wooden steamer basket use this to steam the peas and shredded cabbage over the potatoes. Once the potatoes are cooked through, drain (reserving the water) and mash with a potato masher ensuring you remove all lumps. Add the egg, fresh herbs and a good pinch of salt and pepper to the potatoes and mix thoroughly before adding the flour in 2 batches. Mix until combined and you form a firm gnocchi dough.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the gnocchi dough into a long, even, sausage shape before cutting into 3cm pieces of gnocchi. Lightly press each piece of gnocchi with a fork to create a ridge on one side. Heat garlic oil in a large pan, add the gnocchi and allow to crisp slightly and colour on each side.
In the meantime, make the spring caponata by adding the warm lightly steamed Brussel sprouts and peas to the remainder of the caponata ingredients, ensure the caponata mix is evenly coated with the pesto and garlic oil, check the seasoning and adjust with cracked black pepper as required.
To serve, spoon the caponata into a bowl, top with the crispy pillows of golden gnocchi and garnish with some extra pine nuts, chopped olives and a lemon wedge - perfect with a glass of Marlborough's Greywacke Wild Sauvingnon!
