This Gnocchi bake with Sausage and Fennel cooks in 30 minutes with minimal prep. Easy to customise to suit your tastes and diet, this is the perfect meal for busy evenings.
I love cooking. My favourite pastime is researching ingredients and thinking up recipes. I love the process of cooking itself – chopping the vegetables, measuring things out and hovering over the stove stirring sauces and watching pans. It’s relaxing and comforting and the best way I know to unwind after a busy day at work.
That being said though, sometimes I do just need a good old ‘dump and go’ recipe with minimal time and effort. This easy gnocchi bake with sausage and fennel is one of those recipes – minimal prep and just 30 minutes in the oven.
How to Cook this Gnocchi Bake with Sausage & Fennel
All you need to do is preheat your oven and lightly grease a baking tray with oil. Then you chop a few bulbs of fennel and some red onion, toss it with gnocchi, sausages and some herbs then bung it in the oven. It’s so easy and delicious and can be customised to suit anyone’s taste.
I used pork sausages but depending on your tastes or diet you could use plant based or even chicken sausages instead. You can swap the vegetables too. Use up what you have in your fridge or go for something more seasonal. (I’ll be making this with sliced courgette and red pepper in the summer.) Even the gnocchi can be customised – I’ve made this with pumpkin gnocchi, but good old potato gnocchi is great too, and I’m positive cauliflower would also be delicious.
Tips and Substitutions
- Use your favourite chipolata style sausages. I used pork here, but you could try any plant-based or veggie.
- If you want to use thicker sausages they will take longer to cook. Check the cooking times on the packet, but I would recommend part-cooking them for about 10 minutes on the baking tray in the oven before you add the rest of the ingredients.
- Fennel can be swapped for red pepper, courgettes or even extra onions and tomatoes.
- If you don’t have fresh rosemary springs then swap a teaspoon of dried. Add with the olive oil and salt and pepper when tossing with the vegetables and gnocchi
If you are looking for another no-fuss weeknight dinner then check out my Cod and Chorizo Traybake with Tomato and Butter Beans or Sea Bass with Mango Salsa.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, please leave a comment if you try it!
Gnocchi Bake with Sausage and Fennel
Equipment
Ingredients
- 400 grams good quality chipolata style sausages - I used pork, but any will do – try a veggie version
- 300 grams gnocchi - I've tried with both potato and pumpkin varieties
- 150 grams cherry tomatoes
- 3 baby fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced - or 1 large, about 300g
- 1 large red onion, halved and sliced - or 2 smaller onions
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil - plus extra to oil the baking tray
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°c/180°c fan/Gas 6/400°F
- Add the fennel, onion, garlic, rosemary, tomatoes and gnocchi to a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a generous amount of salt and cracked black pepper.
- Toss everything together well and then pour onto a lightly oiled baking sheet or shallow roasting dish and arrange in an even layer.
- Place the sausages on top.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, giving everything a toss halfway through. Make sure the sausages are cooked through and coloured on the outside.
- Discard the rosemary stalks and serve, ideally with a sprinkle of parmesan and a side of green salad.
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