Let’s all stop and admire the cheesy goodness that is this Easy Baked Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Mozzarella.
Seriously. Will you just LOOK at that spectacular layer of ooey, gooey, melty deliciousness. I can barely even handle it.
Now, I’m no stranger to eating outrageously cheesy foods. But for some reason, they don’t make an appearance here on the blog very often. Maybe it’s because I try to keep the recipes I share here a bit healthier. Or maybe it’s because cheese is REALLY HARD to photograph (add that to the list of things I didn’t know before starting this job).
Whatever the reason, this time I managed to successfully break the cheese barrier. So here I am with this simple, comforting and satisfying (and did I mention cheesy?) vegetarian dinner.
This Easy Baked Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Mozzarella is perfect for a weeknight meal, which is why I’m sharing it today as part of our monthly 30 Minute Thursday series. To get it made in under 30 minutes, you’ll want to work on creating the sauce while the gnocchi is cooking. And then once everything is baking in the oven, you’ll have time to toss together a salad or sauté up a side vegetable. It’s a total low stress situation.
Make sure to check out the links below to see what my blogging friends are bringing to the table this month for #30MinuteThursday. And if you make any of the dishes from our series, be sure to give us a shout out on social media!
Cheers,
Liz
Recipe adapted from What’s Gaby Cooking
Ingredients
- 1 lb package store-bought gnocchi
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 2 cups fresh cherry tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce (I used no salt added tomato sauce)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into pieces
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray an oven safe dish (I used an 8-inch round baking dish) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, make the sauce. Add the gnocchi and cook according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste, salt, black pepper and nutmeg, cooking for about 30 seconds more. Add the cherry tomatoes, tomato sauce and balsamic vinegar. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat. Stir in the fresh herbs, heavy cream and the cooked gnocchi.
- Transfer about half of the gnocchi/tomato mixture to your prepared oven safe dish. Top with about half of the torn mozzarella cheese. Then add the remaining gnocchi/tomato mixture and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Transfer the dish to your pre-heated oven and cook for 10 minutes. If you want to brown the cheese, you can place the dish under your broiler for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the baked gnocchi from your oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Top with additional fresh herbs, if desired.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 2-3 days.
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Wow that cheesy goodness is definitely calling my name! I love that you made baked gnocchi, Liz! And even better that it’s ready in just 30 minutes. I definitely need to try this ooey gooey dish!
What’s not to love about all this cheese, right? 🙂
Yum! Now that I’ve seen this, I need this for dinner tonight 🙂
Yes, do it!! You won’t be sorry!
SOLD. You know I still like some cheese here and these so I’m super into this. Now, if I bring over a nice bottle of wine can you make this for me for dinner? I think this plan is solid.
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
Oh! I’m totally buyin’ what your sellin’ today Liz! This is one delicious bowl of goodness!!
Ha ha. Glad you’re sold, Mary Ann! 🙂
OMG, I HATE photographing anything cheesy. It makes me want to stab myself in the neck with a pencil. You did a fantastic job here, because the cheesiness up in here is EPIC! This gnocchi looks fabulous my dear.. like Gimme this right now because I haven’t had breakfast and now eggs just won’t do, type of fabulous. NEED this in my belleh, stat! Pinned! Cheers, Liz! <3
Thanks, luv! Cheese is SO HARD! I hate it too. And also, I just want to eat it and not wait to have to photograph it. That’s the REAL problem. 🙂
Oh my, that looks fantastic. And the photos look amazing which I’m totally impressed by because cheese IS hard to photograph! Can’t wait to try this, I love cheesy pasta dishes!
Thanks, Stacey! I know you’ll love it!
Girrrl, I’m glad you broke the cheese barrier (something I’ve yet to do!) because this bowl looks so comforting and cozy! Just what I need on these cold gray days! I need to give gnocchi another chance.. we broke up years ago. This is the recipe to get reacquainted! Thank you my dear!
You broke up with gnocchi. Oh. That’s sad. Sorry to hear that. Maybe you need to be reunited? 🙂
Dude. My need for this is, like, EXTREME! Extreme level need. In every possible universe.
I hope you get it then! 🙂
I can never turn down gnocchi, especially when it’s this cheesy! This is the ultimate 30 minute meal!
Cheese makes everything better! Thanks, Marcie!
This gnocchi looks to DIE for! All that delicious saucy tomato-y goodness?! Yes please!!! Pinning 🙂
Thanks, Medha! I kind of died a little when I ate it. It’s that good!
OMG, this looks so good! Ghocchi is always my go-to pasta order when eating out but I’ve never made it at home before. Now all I wanna do is buy some and smother it with tomatoes and mozzarella!
Go get yourself some and smother away!
i am ALL IN on this cheesy deliciousness. and love your 30 minute thursday idea! weeknights are not always my friend when it comes to the kitchen, so kudos to developing this fast, yet uber delicious recipe. and guess what – i recently found gf gnocchi in the store. win!
Hey that’s awesome about the GF gnocchi! Yeah! And I know what you mean about weeknights – I usually fail at making anything resembling a real dinner and just scarf leftovers from work earlier in the day. Trying to be better and our 30 Minute Thursday is helping me do that!
Uhh so when can I come over for dinner? This looks SO good, Liz! That gooey cheese is calling my name. I’m about to go to the grocery store and my grocery list now looks very similar to this ingredients list…SO trying this!
Yeah, I know you’ll love it Rachel!
I don’t do savory much but when I do I dislike taking pictures of cheese. This looks so wonderful and it’s ten perfect weeknight meal. Comforting and quick!
Why does cheese have to be so delicious and so hard to photograph. GAH! It kills me!
thnx for this! it really makes my day! I’ve scratched made gnocccc. but the pre-pkg. are best, but sometimes they are great or just ok. i’m still working on them thinking it may be the “batch” or my cooking. never thought to bake, but will thnx to you. this may be the solution to my problem.
I hope you try it out, Maude! Thanks for stopping by!
YES. This is my kind of comfort food!! Cheese stresses me out too but these photos are gorgeous Liz. I need to pick up some gnocchi, stat!
Thanks, Alyssa! Definitely go get yourself some gnocchi!
Liz, oh my GAWD, gorgeous and looks soooooo good!!!! I LOVE gnocchi!!!! Dang, I want some crusty bread to dip in there, like now. . this seriously looks so good!!!
Oh yeah, you don’t want to waste any of the sauce so crusty bread is a must! Thanks, Alice!
Oh gosh, how did you know that gnocchi is my biggest weakness in the carb department?? I seriously just want to dive into all this ultra-cheesy goodness!
My weakness too! Thanks, Sarah!
This is so prettyyyy!!! I love cheese too….unfortunately, cheese does not love me….if ya know what I mean!
Ha ha. I know exactly what you mean. 🙂
That looks delicious Liz! While my daughter loves gnocchi, sadly I birthed a child that does not like a red sauce – not sure how that happened! 😀
Oh man. Well maybe you’ll have to treat yourself to this then!
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Holy cheese Batman!! Whatever reason you haven’t shared more cheesy dishes with us before is all forgiven because this. is. so.Yumm! Give me all the pasta please
I’m totally inspired to share more cheesy deliciousness now! Thanks, Amanda!
I CANNOT handle the cheesiness! I have yet to master the cheese shot, but it looks to me like you have! I’d love to dig into this easy baked gnocchi!
Well, let’s use the word “master” lightly. I may have just gotten lucky this one time. We’ll have to see if I can do it again!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit. Followed the recipe as written (although I did halve the tomatoes). I cook all the time and this is not really a 30 min meal – more like 45 min, but still – totally worth the effort.
Thanks for a great meal!
Glad you loved it, Anne! That’s so great to hear!
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Hey!
I just wanted to let you know that I made this for dinner last night and it was fab! Thanks so much 🙂
Best regards,
Vicki
That’s so great to hear, Vicki! Yeah!
I made this tonight for dinner. It was AMAZING. So delicious. I didn’t want to buy a whole half-pint of heavy cream so I used sour cream instead and it seemed to work just fine. This is definitely going into my dinner rotation- the hubs went back for thirds!
Yay! So glad you loved it. And good trick with the sour cream!
where have you been all my life oh so delish
Ha ha. It’s so good!
I was looking for a recipe to use some whole-wheat, store-bought gnocchi in and chose this recipe. I didn’t have fresh herbs, so I subbed a palmful each of dried basil and dried parsley. Nor did I have any heavy cream, so I subbed 1 TB Greek yogurt. I added salt and pepper to the sauce to taste. I cooked everything in an 8-inch glass dish, too. This was very good — well-seasoned, cheesy, saucy, and comforting with a hunk of good bread and/or a salad after a long day’s work. Biting into a piece of gnocchi with a cherry tomato that bursts in your mouth was a great texture contrast — the doughiness of the gnocchi and the acidic sweetness of the cherry tomato went together very well.
Please check out my food blog at what-marsha-eats.tumblr.com.
So glad you enjoyed it, Marsha!
My gnocchi doesn’t have weight measurements and I don’t have a scale – approximately how many cups of gnocchi should I use in this recipe?
Probably about 3 cups? I’m not exactly sure. A little more or less won’t hurt the recipe. 🙂
thank you madam
You’re welcome!
Is it seriously challenging to photograph cheesy stuff?!! Oh my. I should rethink my posts! I think most everything I do is cheesy. Damn. Well, these gnocchi look beautiful to me.
I find it hard (especially if it’s hot and melty), but it’s getting easier the more I practice. Lol!
Do you think this would freeze well? If so before or after baking?
I wouldn’t recommend freezing this dish.
Tomatoes and mozzarella! I love this recipe. Thanks.
Can’t go wrong with that combo!
Thanks for sharing ingredients and instructions , this recipe looks so delicious “Easy Baked Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Mozzarella”, will love to try this .
It’s a favorite!
Love this Easy Baked Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Mozzarella, this one seems so delicious .Will Love to try this one.
I hope you do!