I came up with this recipe just by a fluke. I had bought a package of gluten-free gnocchi that I wanted to try. I roasted some garlic the day before for something else and didn’t end up using it. I threw those together with some stuff I had in the fridge and immediately knew I had to share this dish.
The stars of this show:
1) One whole head of garlic, roasted. Yes, the whole thing! If garlic is not your love like it is mine, you can throw a couple cloves in when making the pesto BUT I highly suggest the whole thing roasted- AMAZING!
2) The gnocchi- roasting this made it crispy on the outside and kind of chewy on the inside. But chewy in a good way!
Time savers:
1) Roast the garlic and make the pesto ahead of time. I roast the garlic the day before, let it cool, and then squeeze all the cloves out and store it in the fridge for when I am ready. Once that is complete you can make the pesto, that will be fine in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
2) Chop your veggies beforehand.
Reasons why I love it:
1) This meal is perfect to meal prep on a Sunday night and then throw it all together when you want it during the week.
2) By adding in kale with the basil for the pesto sauce, you get one more opportunity to get some extra veggies in. I promise you can’t taste the kale though.
3) It is DELICIOUS!
Anything with gnocchi has to be good. That being said, this recipe has so much good stuff in it I don’t see how it can fail to be delicious. I do have one question…I’ve roasted all sorts of veggies many times, it’s my favorite way of preparing vegetables. However I’ve never roasted garlic. What’s your recommended procedure for that?
Good question! That probably would have been good to include on here so I am glad you asked! I peel off as much as the ‘paper’ stuff that I can and then cut off the tips of the garlic just to expose a little of the raw garlic. I then put the whole head of garlic in foil, drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and seal it all up in the foil. It will roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or so. After that, I let it completely cool and the cloves will pop right out. Does that make sense?
It does indeed. I’ll have to try it when the weather is cooler, less humid and more amenable to having the oven on.