Beetroot & Herb Gnocchi

(VG, GFO)

If I didn’t live where I do, I would have been nervous about finding plastic-free greens and herbs during the Plastic Challenge, but fortunately Incredible Edible once again comes to the rescue, with oregano, chives, chard, spinach, sage and lots more. I’ve nipped to their Apothecary Garden a few times this month, taking a couple of handfuls of green, then mainly whizzing it up into a pesto. I was particularly proud of the one I made yesterday, so here’s the recipe.

(Lauren Caris’ beautiful post here taught me how to make gnocchi, check out her video and better explanation if this is the first time you’ve made or seen gnocchi! I’ve also tried it with sweet potato but found these a lot lighter, as sweet potato is quite wet and kneaded more flour.)

Ingredients (makes 3-4 portions):

For the gnocchi:

3 baking potatoes

Plain flour (or gluten-free equivalent)

For the pesto:

1 raw beetroot, peeled (chopped and boiled or roasted if you know your blender’ll complain)

Scattering of fresh herbs (I used oregano, thyme, rosemary and chives. Be sure to chop the chives so they don’t wind round the blender blade!)

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds or other nuts or seeds

Oil and water to loosen

Method:

Pierce and cook the potatoes in the microwave (or oven) for 10+ mins until they’re cooked through.

Meanwhile, blend the pesto ingredients together until at desired texture (I like my pesto smooth)

Peel the potatoes (ow hot!) and set the peel aside to roast in the oven with some oil, salt and rosemary.

Zero waste crisps to snack on while making dinner!

Mash the potato until smooth. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour onto a clean board or work surface, make sure hands are clean! Tip the potato onto the work surface and hand mix/knead with flour. Keep adding until the mixture doesn’t stick too much to the work surface.

Take a blob of dough and roll it into a sausage, then cut off small sections of it and shape into gnocchi, about the size of an acorn, as they will expand when cooking.

They don’t have to be neat

Once you’ve shaped your dumplings (and done fancy things involving a fork if you like), bring a pan of water to the boil.

When it’s proper boiling, plop a few gnocchi in in batches. They won’t take long, and will float when they’re cooked.

Put the pesto in a pan, and add the gnocchi to heat through. Line a bowl with a spring green leaf and put more herbs on top if instagramming.

Enjoy!