Baked Gnocchi

Am I crazy - cooking Italian for Italians? Wait ... what about cooking an Italian recipe on the fly (like randomly adding ingredients into a baking dish and hoping for the best) for Italians. Well, Pat and Maria are good friends and I bet they would grin and bear even the doggiest of dishes - and I have 15 minutes before Maria picks me up for our Interior Design class - so I go for it!

I've filled the dish with yummy things that I think will go together and I cross my fingers that the gnocchi will cook in the oven, in the sauce I have created. I scribble down instructions for Phillip to put the dish in the oven (with some garlic bread) and cook at a temperature for a time that I too, just pluck out of my head. And then I am out the door.

I arrive home to find that not only is Pat and his son waiting for us for dinner, but Steve (Phillip's Dad) has also popped around. Okay - take 10 deep breaths and hope that not only is this dish edible but that it will serve 5 adults and 1 child (note I have only used a 'serves two' packet of fresh gnocchi).

I take the dishes to the table and wait with baited breath - 'Oh my god, you need to give me the recipe,' Maria says. 'This is the best gnocchi I've eaten,' Steve exclaims. And even Phillip who refuses to normally eat gnocchi says it's the best gnocchi I've made. Well it seems I have created a new dish to add to my quick meals list.

BAKED GNOCCHI

Fresh packet of Gnocchi (find it in the fridge section)

2 red capsicums

1 red onion

1 bunch of basil

1 tin of crushed tomatoes

1 jar of creamy tomato and garlic pasta sauce

2 cups of water

Dice up the capsicum and onion into 2x2cm pieces and place in a deep oven proof dish. Add in the gnocchi, tomatoes and pasta sauce. Fill the empty tin with water (approximately 1 cup) and add to the mix.

Fill the empty pasta sauce jar with water (approximately 1 cup) - shake  so that you get any of the sauce that remained in the jar when you emptied it - and then pour into the dish.

Roughly chop the bunch of basil and add to the dish. Mix so that everything is evenly distributed and then put into a 220 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.