This idea came to me a few months ago when I was flipping through an Italian pasta cookbook my mom picked up for me years ago in the airport in Rome. The book has a recipe for Sedani with Beans (or all’uccelletto), which is a Tuscan dish using beans, tomato sauce and pasta.
I’ve only ever seen chickpeas used in pasta recipes before and I knew that this was something that I needed to try. The first time I worked on this recipe, I kept it simple; gnocchi with marinara sauce and white beans. The next time I added kale and the final test, I added sausage, taking inspiration from one of my favourite soups; sausage kale and white bean.
The results? A deliciously comforting and cheesy baked pasta. If you want to keep this dish vegetarian, you can easily leave out the sausage.
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Gnocchi with White Beans, Sausage and Kale
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Dinner
Description
A deliciously comforting and cheesy baked pasta. If you want to keep this dish vegetarian, you can easily leave out the sausage.
Ingredients
- 1 500g package of shelf-stable gnocchi
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 Italian sausage links (hot or medium), casings removed and crumbled
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups thinly sliced kale
- 1 398-mL can of tomato sauce or 1½ cups homemade marinara sauce
- 1 28oz can of white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp thinly sliced basil
Instructions
Cook gnocchi according to package directions.
Heat a large ovenproof pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, sausage and onion. Cook, crumbling sausage until onion is translucent and sausage is browned, about 2-3 minutes.
Add garlic and kale, cook another 2 minutes until kale is bright green and soft. Stir in tomato sauce, white beans, cooked gnocchi, Italian seasoning and salt.
Sprinkle with mozzarella and place under the broiler for 2-5 minutes until cheese is starting to brown and is completely melted–watch carefully to avoid the cheese burning.
Keywords: Easy Gnocchi, Gnocchi with Beans, Fast Gnocchi Recipe
