Wednesday 28 March 2012

Baked Gnocchi with Spinach and Sausage

I have been rather useless of late. Instead of trying to shift a few more lbs I have been gorging on cake (well it was my son's 2nd birthday) and all sorts of naughties. It's not surprising then, I have steadily put on a few lbs. Anyway it's time to get serious, especially as it's less than 4 weeks to our school ball and I'd love to squeeze into a little red dress I bought before Christmas.

To kickstart this new period of 'being good' (can't stand the word 'diet'), I've been experimenting with a few new recipes. This one I tried for the first time last night and hubby and I were really pleased at how satisfying it was for a 12 ProPoint meal, not to mention completely scrummy! I use my favourite sausages, Porky Whites which are a Surrey Sausage and they have a real depth of flavour.  You don't need many sausages, which is a good job seeing how ProPoint laden they are. By using lots of spinach you can fill out the dish. If you didn't like spinach you could easily substitute this with broccoli or your other favourite green vegetable. It's also a very economical dish and whilst I've not worked out the exact cost, you could feed 4 for around a fiver.





You'll need for 4: (easily halved)
  • 1 small onion or half a large onion, finely diced
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
  • 2 tins chopped tomatoes or a large jar of passata
  • 2 tablespoons lighter mascarpone
  • 1 large bag of spinach or a few frozen portions of spinach
  • 4 tbsp grated parmesan,
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Small handful of fresh basil, chopped
  • 6 chipolata sausages. I use Porky white sausages which are just delicious!

What to do:

Heat the oil in a non stick pan and saute the onion. Add the garlic and gently fry for 8-10 minutes until soft and golden. Chop the sausages into nugget size pieces, add to the pan and turn up the heat to brown. Add the spinach and season with salt & pepper.

Next add the tinned tomatoes, the basil, and the mascarpone. Let the sauce bubble away for 10 mins or so. It should be quite a runny sauce.

Add the gnocchi to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Then tip into a roasting dish and allow to cool a little. Sprinkle with some parmesan. You can prepare the dish up to this stage in advance

When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 190 (fan) and place in oven for 10-15 minutes until golden on top and piping hot.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12