This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Comfort foodโฆoh how I love you!
And I am so happy your time to shine has come again.
You know, even though I complain about it, I think it may be a good thing I live in such a cold place. As much as I hate the cold, I love cozyโฆ and in my head you canโt really be cozy without cold.
My point is, cold weather makes me think cozy thoughtsโฆ blankets, fires, soup, stew, pasta, cheese, hot cocoaโฆย yadda, yadda, yadda. I could go on and on and on, but Iโll spare you some rambling.
Itโs not a secret around here that I happen to do cozy food REALLY well. Even in the warmer months, I can somehow manage to find a way to make a dish cozy. You might even call it my specialty! So you can imagine how excited I am to be heading into these cozy months ahead. Fall is my favorite, and itโs T-minus six days until its official start. Clearly I have left summer in the dust. Sorry summer, I will love you again come late May/June, but today itโs on to cozyย gnocchi!
I know, YES!!
Hereโs the thing. This is actually the PERFECT transition to fall meal. While it is baked and super cozy, itโs also a great way to use up all those beautiful late summer tomatoes and fresh basil. So you see, you kind of get summer and fall in one.
Cool. I think I kind of like that!
Best part?? You honestly just add everything to a baking dish all at once and throw it in the oven. It could not be easier! Like SO SIMPLE, you will love it! AND the 45 minutes listed to make this dish, thatโs almost all spent baking in the oven, giving you bonus free time. YES. I love, love, love when that happens. Depending on the time of day (cause most of the time I cook throughout the day) Iโll either get some work done on my computer orโฆehh, thatโs a lie, most likely Iโll do something thatโs a total waste of time, like get caught up on Snapchat. OR, if by chance I am cooking at night and have a free 45 minutes? Oh my gosh you better believe I am taking the longest shower known to man. Lately there just hasnโt been enough shower timeย happening in my life!
When I was growing up I would come home from school, immediately get all my homework done and then have to โwash offโ school in the shower. Fully admitting my mental issues right here and now. But really, thatโs how much I disliked school. I had to shower to get it off of me. I know, isnโt that weird?
Good news is that fortunately I have grown out of thisโฆor well, I am just out of school now, so the whole โwashing off schoolโ thing is kind of obsolete. Anyway, my nice hot showers are no longer frequent, nor long enough for my liking. Who knew that there would come a day when I literally had to make time for a shower. Like UGH. Grown up life is brutal!
But guys, I am cleanโฆI just donโt always get a daily showerโฆwhich does make me sad, but apparently itโs really good for my hair and skin. Soโฆ cool??
Ahh, sorry. Enough about my hygiene habits.
This one-pan spinach and cheese gnocchi! Itโs a beautiful thing, right? I actually made my own homemade ricotta gnocchi, but seeing as I really wanted this to be a throw and go kind of meal you can use store-bought if you prefer. I used this simple recipe from the kitchn for ricotta gnocchi if you are interested.
And like I said before, the rest is really simple. The sauce is basically tomatoes + my special little ingredient that spices this dish up just a bitโฆenchilada sauce! I know that may seem weird in an Italian dish, but trust me, it works! Also, I used a few different cheeses, including blue cheese. If youโre not a fan, I think goat cheese or simply feta would both be good substitutes.
Final selling point: you donโt even need to boil the gnocchi. Just put all the ingredients in a baking dish andโฆ DONE.
Seriously, I love meals like this, they make weekday life so much better!!
Oh and!! My whole family ate it! This made me beyond happy!
Like Kai didnโt even ask questions about the green basil, he just kept eating. That is a beautiful thing right there!
One-Pan Spinach and Cheese Gnocchi with Roasted Garlic Tomato Cream Sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup [chunky basil pesto | https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/20-minute-brown-butter-chunky-basil-pesto-pasta/], or store bought
- 10 cloves roasted garlic, mashed* OR 2 cloves, garlic, grated or minced
- 1 ounce can whole peeled fire roasted tomatoes, 24
- 1/2 cup enchilada sauce
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 8 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
- 1 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped
- salt + pepper, to taste
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 ounce box gnocchi, 16
- 6 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese, or more
- 4 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled, may use goat cheese or feta cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan + more for serving
- fresh basil + sage, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- To the greased baking dish, add the pesto, garlic, tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, balsamic vinegar, heavy cream and butter. Whisk everything together to combine.
- Stir in the spinach, basil, sage, salt + pepper. Add the tomatoes and gnocchi. Toss to combine.
- Dollop the ricotta over top the dish and sprinkle the gorgonzola + parmesan on next. Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, remove the foil and continue baking another 10-15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly, the cheese is bubbly and the gnocchi is soft.
- Remove from the oven and top with fresh herbs. Serve with more parmesan.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Oh, and donโt forget about that parmesan. You just canโt, itโs the best!
Hi Tieghan! Thank you, great stuff as always! There were a couple of typos with the recipe, the second one I pointed out was already mentioned in another comment:
(1) You say “1 ounce can whole peeled fire roasted tomatoes 24” where I think you mean a 24 oz can? I don’t think one ounce makes sense here.
(2) You say “To the greased baking dish, add the … tomato sauce” where I think you mean the fire-roasted tomatoes. Just for clarity, it would be good to refer to them consistently. I got confused, as did another reader below.
Hi Julia,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry for any confusion, this is a super old recipe so the computer is interpreting the ingredients wrong…it’s one 24 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes. Yes, the tomato sauce is the fire roasted tomatoes. I hope this helps! xT
The flavors in this recipe were out of this world! The only thing I’ll change next time will be to cut the cherry tomatoes in half; aesthetically, I just didn’t like the whole tomatoes next to the smaller gnocchi and chopped spinach. But my husband has requested to add this in to our weekly rotation, and because it’s so easy and delicious, I will be happy to do so!
Hey Blayre,
Awesome!!๐ผ I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you giving it a try! xT
This recipe had a lot of warring flavors and the end result was pretty sour. My family took two bites and were done. ๐
Oh no!! I’m so so sorry about that! Is there anything you did differently in this recipe? Let me know how I can help! xT
by tomato sauce do u mean the fire roasted tomatoes?
Hi Marina,
So sorry, I am not sure I am understanding what you are asking. The recipe calls for 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes. Let me know how I can help! xT
Hi Tiegen,
I think where the confusion lies (also for me) is the recipe ingredients list 1 ounce can whole peeled fire roasted tomatoes and the second instruction says tomato sauce.
This was great! The sauce was a nice unique blend of flavors. I love that it was all cooked in one dish – although it does take a bit over an hour total to make this in my experience.
My only issues were that my gnocchi came out mushy (next time I will find bigger/different gnocchi, or cook for less time), and the gorgonzola flavor was a overwhelming the other flavors a bit – I think maybe next time I’ll do half the gorgonzola and the other half with feta.
Hey there,
Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear that it was a hit!! Sorry to hear about the gnocchi. xTieghan
Hi Tieghan,
This recipe sounds easy and delicious! Just want to clarify one portion, the ingredient list says: “1 ounce can whole peeled fire roasted tomatoes 24”
Is this supposed to be 1-24oz can whole peeled fire roasted tomatoes?
Thanks! I look forward to trying this recipe soon ๐
Hey Denise,
Sorry for the confusion, you will want to use 1 (24oz) can of fire roasted tomatoes. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi! Would it work out ok to use fresh spinach????
Thanks!
Hi Chelsea! Yes, fresh will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I like your recipe and what you tell.
Thank you!
WOw that Looks so amazing. Find you on Pinterest! Great page. xoxo Janine
Thank you!
Made this last night and it was a huge hit! Absolutely delucious. I raided the last of our basil for the pesto, and defrosted the last of our summer tomato sauce… Yum! If you ever need a (vegetarian) recipe tester for your (next!) cookbook, let me know!
This looks good. I bought everything to make it. I’m curious if this is a meal that can be prepped ahead of time and then cooked day of.
Hey Tiffani! Yes, this can be prepped ahead of time. Just bring to room temp before baking. Hope you love this meal! ๐
This sounds, and looks absolutely phenomenal… plus one pot- WIN!