Chickpea gnocchi w/ slow roasted tomatoes, chilli & coriander

I absolutely adore the warm, lightly spiced flavours of this dish. It's gnocchi but not as you know it. A change from the traditional Italian flavours you might expect. Instead I've spiked the gnocchi with curry powder, paired the sweet slow roasted cherry tomatoes with chilli and topped it all with handfuls of fresh coriander. A simple dish with big flavours.

I love gnocchi (and so does my family) but to be honest the cooking-the-potatoes step often has me hesitating. It's just one step too many in an already longish process. Usually I skip the potatoes and make ricotta gnocchi instead. (Find my ricotta gnocchi recipe HERE). This time however I'd been thinking about how insanely versatile chickpea flour is and wondered if it might make a yummy gnocchi recipe. I tried a vegan gnocchi recipe with chickpea flour and then a chickpea flour / ricotta version. They both sucked! The flavour of chickpea flour was way too raw and overpowering plus they were slightly gritty. I probably don't talk about this much but I have loads of kitchen fails. You have to when you're trying new things. It's important not to get discourage or be scared of something not working out. Most of the time it is still perfectly edible - just not worth sharing.

I had a little rethink and decided to use tinned chickpeas instead of the flour. The chickpeas sort of stand in for the potato element. It's really SIMPLE and DELICIOUS! The recipe produces a gnocchi that is very slightly firmer than the original but in a way that's tasty. The flavour lends itself to playing around with different pairings.

I made a batch recently and popped them in the freezer to pull out for easy kids meals. Bonnie just loves them. Simply freeze the uncooked gnocchi on a tray (not touching each other). Once frozen you can remove from the tray and store in a ziplock bag to save space in the freezer (I always wash and reuse the bags by the way). Simply cook straight from frozen, following the same boiling directions as the recipe below.

I hope you'll give these a go!

If you're looking for other gnocchi recipes of mine. They are also tasty.

Ricotta and black olive gnocchi

Parnsip gnocchi with rocket pesto

Panfried gnocchi with balsamic mushrooms, walnuts and greens 

(There's also a great sweet potato gnocchi recipe in my cookbook)

Have the best week. Kelly xo

p.s Be confident handing the gnocchi dough. Don't be tempted to add too much flour. Instead just ensure your board is well-floured. Enjoy!

Chickpea gnoochi w/ slow roasted cherry tomatoes, chilli & coriander

Serves 4

2 punnet cherry tomatoes

Olive oil for roasting

100g butter

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon red chilli flakes

Large handful fresh coriander – roughly chopped

Gnocchi

3 cups tinned chickpeas (this is usually about 2 x 400g tins - drained)

¾ cup spelt flour plus up to 3 tablespoons extra if needed

2 size 7 free range eggs

1 teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt

cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 140 degrees Celsius

Halve the cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and season generously with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Toss with your hands. Lay the tomatoes cut side up in an oven-proof dish. Bake for 60-70 minutes until tender and slightly shrivelled.

Lay the chickpeas out on a tea towel and dry as well as possible. Place all the gnocchi ingredients into a food processor and run until relatively smooth. You’ll probably need to stop and scrap the sides at least once. If the mixture feels very wet add the extra flour one tablespoon at a time. Let the dough sit in the food processor for 15 minutes before rolling. If the day is very hot, place it in the fridge to rest.

Divide the dough into 4 even balls. Roll (using your hands) each into a log that is 2cm in width on a very well-floured board or benchtop. It helps to have your hands dusted with flour also. Cut into 3cm pieces using a clean knife. Repeat this process until the dough is finished. Place on plates that have also been dusted with flour. Do not let the pieces touch.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the gnocchi into the water (do this in 3-4 batches so that the water doesn’t cool too much). The gnocchi are almost done when they rise to the surface. Give them a further minute before removing with a slotted spoon. Repeat until you’ve cooked the whole batch.

Heat the butter and cinnamon in a sauté pan over a medium high heat. Add the gnocchi and toss for 1 minute until the gnocchi is lightly golden and the butter smells slightly toasty. Add the cherry tomatoes and chilli (be careful as the pan may spit and sizzle!). Use the back of a spoon to squash about half the tomatoes. Mix everything together along with half the coriander and season to taste.

Serve immediately topped with more fresh coriander.