Vegie Smugglers

What do you do if your little lovely is one of those few who refuses to munch on mash or chomp on chips? That’s the challenge set for me by Christina in Mildura. A child who doesn’t eat potato!!! Yes, more common than you might think. So I’ve had a look through my recipe stash and brushed off this delicious potato gnocci recipe.

Before you all grimace and turn away, gnocci is actually easy to make. It IS a little messy while you’re rolling them out, so put the answering machine on, pop on something you can sing along with and relax for a bit of mummy play-doh time. Once the prep work is all done though, the actual cooking only takes about 3 minutes. Watch them while they’re cooking – they sink to the bottom initially then rise up to the top of the water. Give them another minute from this point and scoop them out to drain. Whack over this amazingly easy no-cook sauce, a few olives and some parsley for the grown-ups and you have a happy potato-eating family.

Both the sauce and the gnoccis can be made several hours ahead and left in the fridge until you need them – just coat the gnoccis in enough flour that they don’t all stick together.

Potatoes, spinach, capsicum and tomatoes all lurking here.

Super simple pasta sauce with potato & spinach gnocci

This sauce is so tasty and easy to make, and really cheap in the summer when everything is in season.

Gnocci
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 tsp salt
2 cubes frozen spinach (about 50g), thawed and excess water squeezed out
1 1/2 -2 cups plain flour

Sauce
1 red capsicum
2 roma tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper

For the gnocci: Steam, microwave or boil the potatoes until tender. Mash roughly. Add the salt and spinach then mix through the flour in 1/4 cup amounts until you have a dough that isn’t too sticky. Divide into softball sized pieces and roll out into sausages. Cut bite size pieces. Roll them into a round shape and press down with a fork. Toss in a little more flour and set aside.

For the sauce: slice the capsicum into large flat pieces (remove seeds) that will fit under your grill. Grill on high until they are totally blackened (don’t worry about a burning smell, in this case burnt is good). Remove and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pull the skin off the capsicum pieces, chop into smaller chunks and place into the bowl of a mini food processor or blender. Blitz. Chop the tomatoes into large chunks and add them to the machine. Blitz more. Add the oil, vinegar and seasoning and blitz to combine.

Bring a deep saucepan of water to the boil. Drop in the gnoccis (separate as you go so they don’t stick together). They are cooked about a minute after they have risen to the top of the pan. Drain. Place in your serving bowls. Pour over the sauce mixture. Stir through and add parsley and parmesan to taste.

SERVES 2 ADULTS AND 2 KIDS