Question for you. What is better than a pasta bake? How about a gnocchi bake? Add pumpkin and tomato sauce, loads of cheese, and my goodness, eat a bowl of this and you’ll be curled up taking a nap in no time!
I gave this post some extra love. And by extra love, I mean extra photos. I was pretty excited about this recipe and I wanted you to join me on this culinary journey. Don’t mind the blurry photos… that’s what I get for juggling a camera and spatula.
So, let’s get cooking! Start with drizzling a pan with olive oil, then caramelizing the onions. Your kitchen is about the smell fantastic.
While the onions are cooking, chop and measure out the basil, pumpkin, tomato sauce, cheese and red pepper flakes, rosemary…
Next, add the garlic. Saute for about 30 seconds. Careful, don’t burn it!
Set the onions and garlic aside. By now, you should have attracted people in your house to the kitchen asking, “Mmm… that smells good. What are you making?”
Next up is the chicken. Add it to the same pan and cook until lightly golden.
Now set the chicken aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the gnocchi and cook until it all floats to the surface (~3-4 minutes).
We’re not done with that pan yet! Add the pumpkin, tomato sauce, basil, rosemary, red pepper flakes and mix well.
Taste the sauce. Does it need some salt? I thought so. Add a few sprinkles to taste.
Add the chicken and onions to the sauce, and about 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese.
Then the gnocchi…
Now you’re nearing the end… make yourself an assembly line with a 9×9 baking dish and the rest of the mozzarella.
Pour the gnocchi and sauce mixture into the baking dish. Top with mozzarella.
Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Turn the heat up and broil (uncovered) for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.
By now your kitchen should be bustling with people, just itching for a taste of this gnocchi bake! Well, friends, good news… it’s ready!
Enjoy!
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 onion, sliced thin
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/4 pounds chicken breast, cut into small pieces
- 1 package (16 ounces) gnocchi
- 1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/4 cup tomato sauce (I used Rao's Tomato Basil)
- 10 basil leaves, julienne
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces mozzarella, shredded and divided
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium pan, drizzle the olive oil and add the sliced onions and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Saute until caramelized, adding the garlic at the end for about 30 seconds. Set onions aside
- In that same pan, add the chicken and cook until golden. Set cooked chicken aside.
- In a medium pot, cook the gnocchi according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, in the same pan, add the pumpkin puree, tomato sauce, basil, red pepper flakes and about half of the shredded mozzarella. Stir well, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken and onions to the sauce, stirring well. Fold in the cooked gnocchi.
- Pour it all into a 9x9 baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella and cover the dish with foil.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and broil for 5 minutes, until the cheese is golden.
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then serve.
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