Chickpea Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Pesto

Gnocchi is normally made with potato as the base. But what if you don’t have any. Here’s how to make chickpea gnocchi with tomatoes and pesto. The canned chickpeas make the perfect gnocchi, a store cupboard savour!

Chickpea Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Pesto

I love comfort food and Italy produces some fabulous comforters. Just think of all those lovely pasta dishes. And let’s not forget gnocchi. But what is gnocchi?

Gnocchi is a type of pasta that is rather like a dumpling. The most popular type is gnocchi di patate which are made with mashed potatoes, flour and eggs. There is also gnocchi alla romana which are made with semolina instead of potatoes.

Since I didn’t have any potatoes on hand I had to get a bit creative with the larder. I didn’t have any semolina either but I did have good old plain flour. A can of chickpeas lurking there caught my eye. Chickpeas have a good flavour (think of hummus) and are great carriers of other flavours. Why not just mash the chickpeas instead of potatoes?

Chickpea Gnocchi with tomatoes and pesto

Ingredients;

• 1 x 400g can chickpeas (240g drained weight)
• 100g plain flour
• 1 medium egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 200g baby tomatoes (or any tomatoes for that matter)
• Pesto
• Spinach to serve

Method;

• Drain the chickpeas reserving the liquid in case you need to loosen the mixture. You can also use this liquid to replace an egg in baking. Bag it and freeze it!
• Whizz chickpeas in food processor or thoroughly mash with a fork
• In a bowl add the egg and seasoning and start stirring in the flour to form a dough
• Knead gently a few times but don’t overdo this or you will make the gnocchi tough
• Roll the dough into a long sausage shape and chop it into pieces about 2cm long and slightly flatten with a fork. The fork marks will help the sauce to stick to them later
• Bring a large pan of water to the boil and drop in the gnocchi. They are ready when they pop up and float to the surface, about 3-5 minutes

You can serve the gnocchi like this but I prefer to add extra flavour by sauteing them in olive oil. This adds to the flavour and is really quick to do.

• Drain the gnocchi and pat dry on a clean tea towel while you heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan.
• Saute the gnocchi in the pan turning them over when one side is golden. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
• Toss the spinach into the pan and just let it quickly wilt down in the hot oil, this will form the base on your plates
• Put the tomatoes (half and quarter depending on size) on to a baking sheet and drizzle with oil and season well and bake in preheated oven at 200C for 15 minutes till blistered and oozing their juices
• Serve the gnocchi tossed with the roasted tomatoes and spoon on some pesto and parmesan shavings to finish it off

Pesto

I love pesto so always make it out of anything I have on hand. This time I went for a Rosemary and Walnut Pesto because I just love the flavour of rosemary with tomatoes. Also the fact that I only had walnuts and no pine nuts, it was a case of make do with what you’ve got.

If you have a jar of pesto use that.  Want to make your own pest then see my Easy Pesto Recipes for some super simple ideas to think outside the jar!

If you want to learn more about pesto and check out over 75 different recipes for the stuff using everything from herbs and veg to fruit and even weeds. Then my eBook, A Passion For Pesto is a must!

So that’s Chickpea Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Pesto. A super easy store cupboard dinner.

Karon x

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