Cheesy Baked Gnocchi

Inspired by "Add to Taste" and eager to use of the potatoes at home while eating something meat-free, we decided to make "gnocchi". Our friend made this for us in December, but it didn't turn out quite the way he planned - delicious, but not perfect.

So, I instructed MrB to get cooking. I emailed him the recipe and then I started to search for something to go with it. Trying to stay a) meat free b) chicken free c) dairy free and e) free of some of the most popular vegetables is a challenge for us. So I started searching for inspiration. We have limited use of the kitchen so we had to factor in time as well. I got tired of drawing up blanks (weighing up cost vs stock vs what we eat) and found a baked gnocchi recipe. I skimmed over it, not really paying attention and then left work. I was getting lazy, not in the mood to cook, so I took a few shortcuts.

So here is the (slightly modified) gnocchi recipe from Add to Taste (as made by MrB)

What you need (for two people + some left overs for lunch):

4 potatoes
1 egg
1 1/2 cups cake flour
pinch of nutmeg
salt to taste

What to do:
Peel the potatoes and boil in some salted water until soft. Mash well. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients until you get a warm soft dough. Cover with a tea towel and leave for 5 minutes. Roll the dough out into a sausage shape, then with a sharp knife cut pieces from the sausage. Then roll them into blobs and press them gently with a fork. In the meantime boil up some salted water and put the gnocchi in. When they are ready they float to the top.

When I got home I put the oven on grill. Emptied a tin of tomato and chilli pasta sauce over the cooked gnocchi. Added some herbs to give it some extra flavour. I grated some cheese over the gnocchi - the yellow cheese is plain old cheddar for me and the white cheese is goat's milk cheddar for MrB (he is lactose intolerant). Popped the entire thing into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese was nice and melted. Added some freshly ground black pepper and indulged.

Dead easy, really delicious and perhaps a good carbo load?