Gnocchi Pasta Bake with Roasted Veg and Smoked Pancetta

Gnocchi is a great pasta to use for an al forno dish, this means it’s baked in the oven. Here I combine it with roasted vegetables like aubergine with smoked pancetta and chilli flakes for a flavoursome, smoky sauce with a little heat.

If you want to make this dish even quicker just top with mozzarella but if you want to add a later of creaminess and extra comfort make my white sauce to layer on top before finishing with mozzarella.

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Serves: 2-3 Calories: 643 calories per serving

---

Ingredients

• 500g gnocchi
• 75g diced smoked pancetta
• Aubergine, diced 1cm cubed pieces
• Courgette, quartered in slices
• Red Onion, quartered into segments and then halved again into eighths
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp oregano
• 500g passata
• 1 ball of mozzarella
• Olive Oil

Optional white sauce

• 30g butter
• 30g plain flour
• 300ml milk

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees (fan oven)

2. Add the pancetta to a baking dish, and place in the oven while you prep your veg.

3. Dice the aubergine in to 1 cm cubed piece, quarter the courgette and the red onion, and quarter again.

4. After about 10 minutes the pancetta will have released some lovely fats full of flavour. Add the veg, chilli flakes, and oregano, drizzle in olive oil and combine with the pancetta and fats.

5. Return to the oven to roast for another 10 minutes while you prep the white sauce, or besciamella.

6. Melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and whisk to form a roux. Add half the milk and continue to whisk on a medium heat, as it starts to thicken add the remaining milk.

7. Season with salt and pepper, and you can add fresh grated nutmeg too. Put to one side.

8. Once your veg is roasted, add your gnocchi and half the passata, combine together to everything is well mixed and coated in sauce. Then top with the passata, you might not need it all just make sure all the gnocchi is covered but not brimming over.

9. Then top with your white sauce and tear the mozzarella up and dot across the top. Season with pepper.
10. Turn the heat up on the oven to 200 degrees and return to the oven for 10 minutes until bubbling and browned on top.

---