Alex and I now take it in turns every other week to cook dinner, and it works so well at making sure it’s equal as I was always the one who thought about dinner first – I’m just super organised and like to have my food shopping done.
During my cooking weeks, as I’m getting some of my exercise done in the mornings and lunchtimes, I’m trying to get a little more creative in the kitchen with the extra time I have in the evening. But even when time is cut short, I’m trying not to resort to the same old recipes which work time and time again (the simple,easy route).
So I thought..to give myself more motivation to get a little more creative for lunches and dinners I would share my recipes with you guys, once a week, on Sundays – so watch this space.
First up – Gnocchi Bolognaise with leftovers.
Routing through my freezer I found that I had a couple of leftover beefburgers, and I also spotted half a tin of chopped tomatoes in the fridge from the previous night, so I got thinking about what I could whip up to impress the boyfriend.
I didn’t want to just cook the beefburgers – too simple and I wasn’t feeling it – so I decided to use the burgers as minced beef. We hadn’t had bolognaise in ages,as we always opt for chilli con carne (both with a love of spicy food),so I decided I’d do a simple bolognaise but served with something we don’t normally have – something Alex had actually never had before, Gnocchi.
So here’s how it’s made:
Ingredients (Serves 2):
- 2 quarter pounder beef burgers
- 1 1/2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 beef stock cubes
- 1 tsp. all purpose seasoning
- 1 tsp. mixed herbs
- 1/2 tsp. chopped garlic (I use Very Lazy, such a fab store cupboard essential)
- 8 button mushrooms (I only used 4 as Alex doesn’t like them, so also added them just before serving)
- 1 pack of Gnocchi (tomato flavoured if possible)
- 50g grated cheddar, for serving
- small handful of chopped herbs (parsley), to garnish
Method:
- Chop the red onion finely. Fry the onion and garlic until the onion is golden.
- Break the beef burgers up into pieces and fry until browned. Use the spatula to continue to break the beef up as it cooks, so it looks more like you’re using minced beef.
- Once the meat is browned, pop in the mushrooms (if you both want them, if not, fry them separately later on and add them at the end) and fry for a minute longer.
- Pour in the chopped tomatoes, add the crumbled beef stock cubes, herbs and seasoning, stir well and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- With less than 10 minutes to go, prepare the Gnocchi (it takes under 5 minutes to cook in boiling water). Drain the Gnocchi, split between two dishes, top with bolognaise, a small handful of grated cheddar, and a sprinkling of parsley.
Ta da! A simple yet tasty home made meal (ok, apart from the Gnocchi – maybe next time I’ll try from scratch), in about half an hour – perfect for mid-week and great for using up leftovers. You can also serve with a few veggies – I had some green beans and sweetcorn with mine (I always have to have lots of veggies!)
What’s your favorite thing to do with Gnocchi? I’m definitely going to be having it again.
Chloe xx
