Tofu Pesto Gnocchi & Blistered Tomatoes ★★★★★3 reviews
Forget everything you know about making gnocchi - this is easy! Unlike traditional potato gnocchi, there’s no need to pre-cook anything for tofu gnocchi. All you need to do is toss the raw ingredients together in a bowl, mash them up, roll them out, chop them up, and in next to no time you’ll have soft little pillows of delicious and healthy tofu gnocchi.
Serves 2 | Prep time: 25 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins
INGREDIENTS
Tofu Gnocchi
- 300g/10.6oz soft silken tofu
- 1 cup plain flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tsp tapioca/arrowroot starch or cornflour (corn starch)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- Pinch of white pepper
Blistered Tomatoes
- 200g/7oz baby tomatoes (e.g. baby Roma or cherry tomatoes)
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- Pinch each salt and cracked black pepper
Lemon & Basil Pesto
- 3/4 cup firmly packed basil (with stems)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- A generous pinch of salt and cracked black pepper
To Serve
METHOD
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil on the stove. Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F.
- Roast the tomatoes while preparing the gnocchi: add all the blistered tomato ingredients into a small baking dish and toss to coat them in the marinade. Bake until starting to blister (about 15 minutes), mixing the ingredients halfway through to make sure the sauce covers the tomatoes. Remove from the oven and set aside until ready to serve.
- Add all gnocchi ingredients to a large bowl. Mash the tofu into the dry ingredients with a fork. Dust your hands with some flour and then use your hands to combine and press it all together to form a dough. The consistency should be very soft and a bit sticky (the softer the dough, the fluffier the gnocchi will be). Add some extra flour if you need to firm the mixture back up.
- On a surface lightly dusted with flour, form the dough into a disc shape about 15cm/6″ in diameter. Cut the disc into 8 wedges (make sure you dust the blade of the knife with flour to prevent sticking). Roll each wedge into a long log shape, about 1.5cm/0.6″ thick, and then cut it into 3cm/1.3″ lengths.
- Then make the lemon and basil pesto by adding all pesto ingredients to a food processor and blend until well combined, but not completely smooth (leave a few small chunks for some texture). You may need to scrape down the sides of the processor halfway through processing to ensure everything gets blended.
- Back to the Gnocchi. Add a generous pinch of salt into the pot of boiling water. Drop in the gnocchi, and once it’s all added, stir the water once to prevent sticking. Wait until the gnocchi rises to the surface of the water (about 3 minutes). As each gnocchi starts rising to the top, remove it with a slotted spoon.
- Drain any excess water from the gnocchi, then mix it with the pesto. Spoon the gnocchi onto serving plates and top with the blistered tomatoes and pine nuts. If there’s any marinade left over from the roasted tomatoes, drizzle it over the top of the gnocchi.
Notes
- It’s best eaten immediately as the gnocchi will become firmer with time.
- Serving the gnocchi with pesto and blistered tomatoes is optional. You can plate up these fluffy pillows of amazingness with your favourite pasta sauces!
- You can prepare the gnocchi ahead of time. Follow steps 3 and 4 of the recipe, except leave the dough in the log shape without cutting it into small pieces. Wrap each log separately in cling wrap and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
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I'm Silvo, and this is my beat: a creative collection of plant-based, whole food recipes that are drool-worthy, healthy, and simple to make. See all recipes by Silvobeat
This is an excellent recipe, the taste and texture were perfect!
To freeze: After shaping, sprinkle with flour and lay flat on a floured plate and freeze. Once frozen, put in a ziplock bag. Boil from frozen.
Great idea :)
A new favourite vegan dish – will be making a big batch soon to test out how it freezes :)
great! let us know how it goes with the freezing :)