gnocchi cheese bake with broccoli

Sometimes you get in from work, it’s just late, it’s dark, it’s raining. The urge to pick up the phone (or app, these days) and order some food in. But you know there’s just enough stuff in the cupboards that can be coerced into something that doesn’t scream leftovers. And that’s where this gnocchi cheese bake was born.

It has a macaroni cheese at it’s heart but with pillowy gnocchi instead for a toothy bite. The broccoli is there to assuage a little guilt and have something green poking out of it, though the irony taste does help damp down the richness.

The sauce is also a lightning-fast one, made with Greek yoghurt instead of a traditional roux. It’s not quite the same but it’s a helluva lot faster. Pure comfort food.

I’m entering this into Speedy Suppers hosted by Maison Cupcake and Feeding Boys; the theme this month is cheese so what could be more apt?

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gnocchi cheese bake with broccoli

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

• Gnocchi
• 200 g frozen broccoli
• 1 slice bread
• 3 rashers smoked streaky bacon diced (optional)

For the cheese sauce:

• 2 tablespoons cornflour level
• 1 500 g Greek-style yoghurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 50 g fresh parmesan grated
• 50 g cheddar grated

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Put a large pan of water on to boil. Put the gnocchi and broccoli in the water until al dente and drain.
• While the gnoc 'n' broc cooks, measure the cornflour into a bowl. Blend in a little yoghurt, stir in the eggs and whisk until smooth. Mix in the remaining yoghurt, cheeses and the mustard.
• Get an oven-safe dish over a low heat. If you're using the bacon, fry it quickly until crispy. Whizz up half the bacon and bread in a food processor and keep to one side for a moment.
• Add the gnocchi, broccoli and the other half of the bacon to the cheese sauce, adding a little milk if required to let it down. Top with the bacony breadcrumbs and bake for 20 mins, or until puffy and golden.

Need more cheesy dinners? Try the Jackie Kashian creamy penne. Or Heston’s macaroni cheese!