Gnocchi puttanesca traybake
Servings: 4
I’ve always thought of puttanesca as the “emergency pantry pasta sauce” for those nights where cooking, let alone shopping, feels out of reach. Now here’s something for your consideration: why not take that puttanesca, and turn it into even more of a quickie by dumping some store-bought gnocchi into the baking dish! This means far less fussing at the stove (though the crispy capers are worth pottering around for) and a tasty dinner on the table with max flavour at any time of the night. You can leave the tuna out if serving vego, bearing in mind that you’ll need to use a different hard cheese with a non-animal rennet too.
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Ingredients
- 100 g butter
- 150 g kalamata olives pitted
- A pinch of caster (superfine) sugar
- 2-3 garlic cloves peeled and finely grated
- 1 tin of crushed tomatoes or whole-peeled that you squash through your fingers
- 700 ml tomato passata or polpa
- 1 packet (500g) of store bought gnocchi see recipe notes
- ¼ cup 40g salted capers rinsed well and drained
- 2 tbsp olive oil and extra for drizzling
- 400 g good quality tinned tuna chilli-flavoured if you’re up for a kick!
- Finely grated parmigiano reggiano to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° (180 fan).
- In a shallow casserole or medium deep baking dish, add in the butter, olives, sugar, garlic, tin tomatoes, passata (splosh a cup’s worth of water around the passata jar to clean out the dregs, then pour that in too) and the gnocchi. Mix about, cover with a layer of foil to lock in the moisture, or cover with a lid if using a casserole. Pop into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Give it a mix halfway through.
- Meanwhile, fry the capers in the oil over medium-high heat for about three to four minutes or until crispy and golden (you’ll be able to smell when they’re done too). Remove with a slotted spoon onto a piece of kitchen towel to drain.
- Once ready, stir through the tuna. Serve sprinkled with the crispy capers, a parmesan cloud, black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil if desired. Extra chilli oil wouldn’t go astray.
Notes
I always use the gnocchi packs from the fridge or freezer aisle rather than ambient off the shelf, as they tend to have a fresher, more tender result. If you can only find the ambient kind, you might need to bake the mix for 10-15 minutes longer to help encourage the gnocchi to soften.
