Pan-fried gnocchi with broccoli pesto and grilled veg
Fast and tasty green veg - griddled for that smoky taste. The ready-made gnocchi are fried for extra crunch and served with a homemade chilli broccolli pesto.
Ingredients
For the pesto
- 350g/12oz broccoli (about 1 head), roughly chopped
- 100ml/3½fl oz olive oil, plus extra to loosen if desired
- 50-100g/2-3½oz toasted pine nuts, to taste
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 50g/1¾oz parmesan cheese (or vegetarian alternative), freshly grated
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the vegetables
- 300g/10½oz green vegetables such as asparagus, purple sprouting broccoli, courgettes and baby leeks
- olive oil, for drizzling and frying
- 1 pack shop-bought gnocchi
- 3 slices pancetta, baked or grilled, to garnish (optional)
Method
Blanch the broccoli in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes, or until tender. Drain and immediately plunge into ice water to stop it from cooking any further. Drain again and add to a blender with the olive oil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, chilli and a good grating of parmesan cheese. Blend to a paste to make pesto. Taste and season with salt and pepper and add more olive oil if needed to get the consistency you like.
To cook the vegetables, heat a griddle pan to hot. Drizzle the green vegetables with olive oil and cook on a griddle pan. (You can use any vegetables you like for this, but if you choose root veg or anything bigger than asparagus you might need to blanch it first to soften before griddling.)
Heat a good amount of olive oil in a frying pan and tip in the gnocchi straight from the pack. Fry until golden-brown all over, so they look like mini roast potatoes.
Serve up the gnocchi and griddled veg with a good dollop of broccoli pesto. You could also sprinkle over some crumbled pancetta for a crisp, salty garnish.
