I often like my route to dinner, from ingredients to sit-down meal, to be swift but pleasant, much like my travel. And especially in summer. I enjoy gnocchi for this very reason – it’s a fast but brilliant readymade “ingredient” that is sympathetic to a lot of different flavours. In today’s case, I’ve teamed it up with a series of fresh vibrant greens, from Tenderstem to peas and from rocket to parsley, and made it richer and more exciting using a spot of cream and mustard.
Gnocchi with summer greens
You’ll need a large frying pan with a lid.
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
Fine sea salt
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
8 spring onions (150g), trimmed and finely sliced
200g frozen petit pois, defrosted
300g Tenderstem broccoli, or similar, stems cut in 1½cm lengths, florets separated
1 lemon, zest finely grated, then juiced, to get 1½ tbsp
6 tbsp vegan double cream – I use Oatly
1 tbsp dijon mustard
60g rocket
20g (5¼ tbsp) flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Set a large saucepan of salted water on to boil – I use one teaspoon of salt per litre of water.
Meanwhile, put the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the garlic and cook for a minute, until sticky and pale golden.
Add the sliced spring onions, stir to mix, then add the peas and leave to cook for three minutes. Stir in the broccoli, cook for another three minutes, then cover the pan and cook for two to three minutes more, until the broccoli is tender.
Add the lemon zest and juice, a teaspoon of salt, the cream and mustard. Leave the cream to simmer for a second, then take off the heat.
Cook the gnocchi in the salted boiling water according to the packet instructions (ie, until they float to the surface). Towards the end of the cooking, use a mug to scoop up some of the water.
Drain the gnocchi, stir them into the vegetable pan, then add a couple of tablespoons of the reserved cooking water and all the rocket and parsley. Mix again, then distribute between four plates. Drizzle a little more oil over each portion and serve.