Green gnocchi recipe

Green gnocchi looks fantastic on the plate and tastes great too. It’s a great way to entice kids to get excited by dinner time but it’s tasty enough for adults to enjoy too. This earthy green gnocchi is packed with vitamins and fibre, but the salty bacon helps give the dish an indulgent finish. You could give making your own green gnocchi a try but we’ve used a shop bought packet for convenience. This recipe serves one but it’s super easy to scale up if you’re feeding more mouths!

Ingredients

• 1 x 450g packet spinach gnocchi (we like the brand ‘Dell’Ugo’)
• 10 hazelnuts
• 200g unsmoked bacon lardons or pancetta
• 100g ricotta or soft cheese at room temperature
• 2tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 sprig sage leaves, wood removed
• ½tsp mild paprika

For the sauce:

• 1 bunch basil leaves
• 50g spinach
• 100ml olive oil
• 1 ice cube

Method

1. In a mixer, blend all the green sauce ingredients together and scoop into a small saucepan.
2. In a large frying pan, gently brown the lardons, then set aside.
3. Using the same pan and bacon oils, allow 1tbsp butter to melt and gently fry the sage leaves until starting to go golden and crisp. Set aside on a piece of kitchen roll to crisp and dry.
4. Back in the same pan, toast the hazelnuts until going golden, set aside.
5. Turn the pan up to medium and now fry the gnocchi in the remaining butter and oils for 8-10 minutes, turning till all sides are crisping up. Meanwhile gently heat the green sauce. Serve the gnocchi in bowls with the green sauce, lardons, nuts and sage, plus now spoon over some ricotta and sprinkle on a little paprika.