Baked Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a great alternative to regular pasta. For this recipe, I've used store-bought frozen gnocchi and mixed them up with a flavorful home-made sauce, wilted spinach, and mozzarella. It's as easy as it is delicious.

Serves 6

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes with liquid
• 2 tsp dry oregano
• pinch chili flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups tightly packed spinach
• 2 16-oz packages frozen gnocchi
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella 
• fresh basil for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350F. To prepare the sauce, heat olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onions and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add red bell pepper and continue sauteing for 5 more minutes occasionally stirring. Add diced tomatoes, oregano, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and let the sauce bubble for 10 minutes on low. Remove from the heat. Keep warm.

2. Heat a pan with high sides on medium. Gradually add handfuls of spinach to the pan and wait until it wilts. Stir occasionally. Spinach leaves have enough water that using oil is not necessary for wilting. Once all of the spinach is wilted, remove from the heat and set aside.

3. Cook gnocchi according to package instructions. Stir the cooked gnocchi and wilted spinach into the sauce. Mix well. Transfer the mixture into a greased ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve sprinkled with fresh basil.