Written by Carla Taylor
I first discovered vegan gnocchi when looking for a pasta alternative at University. Since then, I have upgraded my culinary skills from pasta bakes to searching for more creative recipes.
This led me to Pinterest where I found not one, but two tasty looking recipes featuring the strangely spongey potato pasta, so I thought why not combine them both?!
If, like me, you are a massive fan of creamy peanut butter dishes and gnocchi, you will be sure to find this recipe a hit!
Vegan ingredients (serves 2 - 3)
1 Pack Vegan Gnocchi
1 Pack Vegan Sausages (Slightly defrosted if frozen - I prefer Linda McCartney)
1 400g Tin Cannellini Beans
A large handful of Spinach
1 tbsp oil
For the sauce:
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (adjust to heat preference!)
2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
3 Cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 tsp oil
1/3 cup Smooth Peanut Butter
2 tbsp water (use more or less to gain desired thickness of sauce)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking
Firstly, heat up a frying pan to a medium temperature and add the oil. Whilst the pan is heating up, cut the sausages into bite-sized pieces. Rinse and drain the cannellini beans and set to one side.
Once the oil is hot, add the sausages and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until brown. Remove them from the heat and put into a bowl or plate lined with a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
Pour some water into a large sauce pan and bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt.
Meanwhile, add some more oil to the frying pan and stir in the chopped garlic, turn down the heat slightly. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until you can smell the garlic aromas. Stir in the basil, oregano, paprika and chilli.
In the frying pan, add in the chopped tomatoes, peanut butter and nutritional yeast then give the sauce a good stir to mix it all together. Add as much water as needed to get the sauce to your desired consistency.
By this point the water should have boiled in the sauce pan. Add the gnocchi and cook according to the package instructions (usually around 2 minutes).
Add the cooked sausage pieces back into the frying pan, along with the cannellini beans and spinach. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until the spinach has wilted slightly.
Drain the vegan gnocchi and stir into the sauce in the frying pan. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve!
You can find the original vegan gnocchi recipes which provided the inspiration for my own below. Before combining these dishes into one, I tried both individually and can confirm they are very delicious!