Recipe: Butternut squash plus tomatoes plus gnocchi for the win
Potato gnocchi roasted with vegetables and sausage makes an easy one-pan meal. Kathy Morrison
So it’s cool enough to cook dinner in the oven, but still nice enough that I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. Garden things to do outside, you know.
The solution: A sheet-pan meal, in which all the ingredients roast together in the oven.
This dish is a riff on a recipe from thekitchn.com. Substitutions are easy: I had Juliet tomatoes but no mushrooms, so into the pan they went. Broccoli cut small would work or green beans or whatever, but don’t forget to include onions.
Gnocchi cooked in the oven is far superior in flavor and texture to boiled gnocchi. It puffs up and gets just a bit crispy – delightful.
Sheet pan gnocchi with vegetables and sausage
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 small or ½ large red onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
8 ounces mushrooms, quartered, or 8-12 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes
1 package (1 pound or more) shelf-stable potato gnocchi
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
8 to 16 ounces uncooked hot or sweet Italian sausage, in casings or bulk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions:
Arrange two oven racks to split the oven into thirds. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
On a large rimmed baking pan, combine the butternut chunks, the onion and the mushrooms or tomatoes (or use both!). Sprinkle the rosemary over the vegetables, and add the gnocchi to the pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the pan, then sprinkle with about ½ teaspoon of salt and grinding of black pepper. Toss to coat.
Remove the sausage from its casings and drop bite-size chunks of it all over the vegetables and gnocchi.
Place the sheet pan on the lower rack of the oven. Roast for about 25 minutes, stirring after about 15 minutes. The sausage should be cooked through, the gnocchi plumped and the butternut chunks tender.
Move the sheet pan to the upper rack and broil on High until the gnocchi are lightly brown and crisp. This happens quickly, about 3 minutes, so don’t walk away.
Serve in large bowls and topped with grated Parmesan, if desired. A salad and a glass of zinfandel are perfect accompaniments.
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Garden Checklist for week of Dec. 8
Make the most of dry weather while we have it this week. Rain is returning.
* Rake leaves away from storm drains and gutters. Recycle those leaves as mulch or add to compost.
* It’s not too late to plant something. Seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Trees and shrubs can be planted now, especially bare-root varieties such as fruit trees or rose bushes. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from winter rains.
* Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Brighten the holidays with winter bloomers such as poinsettias, amaryllis, calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses.
* Keep poinsettias in a sunny, warm location; bring them inside at night or if there’s rain.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they’re dormant.
* Clean and sharpen garden tools before storing for the winter.
* Mulch, water and cover tender plants to protect them during threat of frost. Succulent plants are at particular risk if temperatures drop below freezing. Make sure to remove coverings during the day.
* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.
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