Gnocchi with White Beans, Tomatoes, Spinach and Mozzarella

Lunch this week was almost a one skillet meal, except for the gnocchi, which we discovered while in Venice last summer. I've heard Gnocchi described as a potato pasta but it reminds me more of a dumpling due to its density.

After attempting my own pasta earlier this week I took the easy way out on the gnocchi and bought them off the shelf at, of all places, Target.

We'd had them once before a few months ago and discovered last week that Target had started carrying several new varieties: mushroom and pumpkin! Yum!

I found the inspiration for this dish here but changed it a bit to suit our tastes.

This dish was very easy and took about 20 minutes to cook. Of course I soaked and cooked the beans the night before but you could always use canned to make it quicker.

The most complicated step here was chopping the onion and garlic. Onions must be out to get me. Every single onion I've chopped in the last two weeks has attacked my eyes without mercy.

Step 1: Boil the gnocchi and then crisp in a pan. They cook in about 2-3 minutes and float when they are ready.

Step 2: Saute the garlic and onions in olive oil. Add the tomatoes. Simmer. Add salt, beans, and can wilt and mix in spinach or serve on the side.

Step 3: Add mozzarella. I also added in a decent amount of pesto both in the sauce and on the mozzarella since I had some left over from the pasta experiment earlier in the week. I love pesto! The basil was nice addition to the dish.

Step 4: Plate and serve! So easy!

I love meals that cook together in one pan. The Carnivore hasn't complained but he doesn't like one skillet meals as much as I do.

I found this dish very filling due to the beans which is good since I'm juicing breakfast and dinner this week.

Each time I've made it this week I've added the ingredients in a different order but I've found it very important to simmer the mix for a good 5-10 minutes since it uses canned tomatoes. And I've also learned to put the beans in as late as possible since they are already cooked to avoid them turning in to a mushy mess.