Pea and feta gnocchi with garlicky tomatoes
Fresh, zingy, cheesy and light but comforting - this is the perfect end-of-summer dinner
Happy Monday, friends! I hope you got a chance to sample some sunshine this weekend and are ready and raring to dive headfirst into another week. Everything feels new and exciting at the moment - it’s that September back-to-school energy! - and I’m *this* close to buying stationery even though I really don’t need it. But if I did, I’d get this and this and oh yes please these. Alex has moved out of the box room and into his garden office so I’m planning my newly acquired space for working, Substacking and crafting in. I think I’m going to give wallpapering a go since I’m unlikely to get approval for something chintzy in any other part of the house. Quick question: why is wallpaper so expensive? Until then, I’ll be happily typing to you from the sofa and I’ve been doing quite a lot of that recently, so keep an eye on your inbox for a flurry of content including a banana bread recipe with a twist, what I’ve learned from two months stuck inside with my spinally-challenged dog and why I’m sharing progress, not perfection when it comes to our house reno (that one will be for paid pals only). A huge thank you as always to my paid subscribers who make recipe testing, plotting and writing such things a viable (and super enjoyable!) use of my time. As paid subscriber numbers grow, I’ll be making more of my posts available exclusively to them, so now is an excellent time to get in on the action - it’s just £4 a month and can be cancelled any time. Now, on with the (cooking!) show…
For me, gnocchi is a great in-between-season dish. It’s got that lovely, light summery Italian thing going for it but it’s ultimately potato and comforting when the temperature’s dialled down. So, what better to eat when we’ve got one collective foot in a heatwave and another in autumn than this dinnertime dish of pan-fried (not boiled! which if you’re not sure about let me ask you - do you like roast potatoes?) gnocchi, stirred through a chunky, zesty pea and feta ‘sauce’, spiked with lemon and basil, and topped with (home-grown!!!) fresh tomatoes, which might as well get married already to the copious amounts of garlic, olive oil and salt they’re laying about in. Fresh, flavourful and filling, I know you’re gonna love it.
Serves 2
150g frozen peas
65g feta, crumbled
A couple of basil leaves, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
Handful of grated Parmesan
2 tsp sour cream
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves of garlic, diced
150g fresh tomatoes, quartered
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
400g gnocchi
A little fresh chive, chopped
Handful of grated Pecorino
Black pepper
Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and revive your frozen peas for a few minutes. Tip them into a food processor or electric chopper if you have one, and a blender if not, along with the feta, basil, lemon juice, parmesan, sour cream, olive oil and salt. Blitz until well combined but still a little chunky.
Next, prepare the tomato topping by adding the garlic, tomatoes, salt and olive oil to a small bowl and mixing together.
Grab a large pan, add a generous glug of olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Add the dry gnocchi to the pan and pop the lid on for a few minutes. The aim is to get crispy roast potato-esque edges on the gnocchi, which should also be cooked and fluffy inside, so keep stirring and returning the lid until you’ve achieved this (5-8 mins).
Meanwhile, warm the pea mixture in a small pan.
To serve, make the pea ‘sauce’ the foundation of the dish, then topple on the crispy gnocchi and finish with the garlicky tomatoes, plus fresh chives, Pecorino and pepper.