Easy pan fried gnocchi recipe with olive oil and sun dried tomatos — *Slippers: Model’s own*

Red pesto, Parmesan gnocchi with chicken, broccoli and bacon, topped with toasted pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes and crispy fried gnocchi

Now can you see why I’ve called this my Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Gnocchi? Again, like my bangin’ breakfast burrito recipe I shared the other day, this was a pre-shop, use-up concoction that actually turned out pretty damn delicious. It’s indulgent and hearty but the perfect plate if you’re hankering after something that’s a bit special but still quick, simple and easy to make.

Make it meat-free by leaving out the meat ingredients (duh) and substituting with more veggies and maybe even some feta cheese. The combination of flavours are classic; tried and tested but still SO delicious and the contrast of doughy boiled gnocchi with the crispy fried gnocchi is a complete and utter delight. I shared something similar about 3 years ago in the form of my Parmesan gnocchi with chicken and tenderstem broccoli but girrrrrrl, she’s had a glow up…

(Serves 2)

Olive oil
Whatever oil you like to cook meat in
Salt & black pepper
400g fresh gnocchi
A handful of sun dried tomatoes
A small handful of pine nuts
2 handfuls of broccoli florets
3 pieces of bacon (cut into small strips)
1 chicken breast (diced)
1 cup of Parmesan cheese
A jar of red or green pesto (I used red)

Put a pan of water on to boil and soften your broccoli florets for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan on high heat then when it’s hot, chuck in your pine nuts and toss around for a few minutes until toasted and golden – no need for any oil or seasoning. Remove from the pan and put to one side for now.
Turn the heat on the frying pan down to medium and add in a bit of oil (I used a few sprays of the FryLight Garlic Oil) then put in your diced chicken with a little bit of salt and plenty of black pepper.
Once the chicken is sealed all over (i.e. all white on the outside and just starting to brown) transfer your broccoli into the frying pan (around the edges – leave the chicken in the centre) and leave the pan of boiling water on a gentle simmer.
Add your bacon strips into the centre of the frying pan and leave to cook with the chicken.
Add a small splash of olive oil and a dash of salt to the pan of simmering water and then chuck all of the gnocchi in and leave to cook until they all bob to the top – should only take about 5 minutes. (Adding the olive oil to the water will help stop the gnocchi sticking together).
Toss your chicken, broccoli and bacon together in the frying pan to let all the flavours come together.
Meanwhile, drain your gnocchi and set aside about a quarter of the pieces.
Transfer the chicken, broccoli and bacon into the pan with the drained gnocchi and then dollop on about 3/4 of the jar of pesto (around 3 heaped tablespoons).
Return to the heat (turning the heat down to medium-low) and give it all a good stir together. Stir through a heaped tablespoon of Parmesan and leave to heat through.
In your (now empty) frying pan, you’re going to fry the gnocchi pieces you set aside to make them all golden and crispy – I did this using some of the oil out of the sun dried tomato jar but you could just use a small amount of olive oil here. Sprinkle over a bit of salt and black pepper too.
Place each sun dried tomato and gnocchi piece down individually to stop them sticking and fry evenly on all sides until you reach your desired level of sizzled.
Serve the pesto mixture into pasta bowls then sprinkle over some more Parmesan cheese.
Create a shallow well in the centre of the pile and it’s in here that you can nestle your blistered sun dried toms and crispy fried gnocchi.
Scatter your toasted pine nuts around each bowl and finish with a shower of cracked black pepper.