This Creamy Tomato, Bacon and Spinach Gnocchi is a delicious, fast family meal. The rich, oozy creamy tomato sauce covering tender pillows of potato gnocchi is homemade with whole foods, and oh so yummy! Gnocchi is great for toddlers learning to use cutlery, and this recipe is easily adaptable for babies. This is comfort food the whole family can enjoy. If you love one-pot recipes for easy family dinners, then this gnocchi is for you!
Adapting this recipe for babies and toddlers
This creamy tomato gnocchi recipe can easily be adapted for young children. You’ll see that this recipe already has no white wine or other alcohol. Sadly, one adaption is to leave out the bacon if serving to family under 12 months of age [1]. You could dice and sauté the bacon separately, and add bacon bits to the other family members’ meals after serving baby’s portion. I love bacon, so I would do that! You can further reduce the sodium content for babies and toddlers by not adding parmesan cheese to their serve. Babies can have a small amount of parmesan [2], but the choice is yours 😊.
Ingredients in Creamy Tomato, Bacon and Spinach Gnocchi
Here’s what you need to make this yummy gnocchi pasta dish:
Garlic and onion – For the flavour base. Substitute the garlic cloves for 2 tsp minced garlic if needed.
Bacon – Two rashers, extra fat removed. Leave this out if serving to family under 12 months of age [1]. You can sauté it separately if you’d like to add it to older family members’ portions.
Passata – Passata is pureed tomatoes. If you’re mindful of sodium content, just check the labels. Some brands here in Australia add salt, others don’t.
Cream – Use thickened cream, or heavy cream.
Fresh spinach – Baby spinach is preferred. If the leaves are quite large, chop in half, particularly if using a Thermomix as they will wrap around the blades during cooking.
Basil – One large handful, leaves only.
Fresh gnocchi – Use your preferred brand of potato gnocchi, or substitute for another pasta variety.
Parmesan cheese – For serving, and optional for babies.
Pepper and salt – Add the salt at the end of cooking if needed, after reserving a portion for any family under 12 months.
Olive oil
How to make Creamy Tomato, Bacon and Spinach Gnocchi
You can either make this recipe by hand or use a food processor to help with the chopping. Firstly, grate the parmesan cheese and set it aside. Next, finely chop the basil and set it aside. Finely chop the garlic, onion and bacon and sauté in a saucepan on the stovetop. Add the basil, spinach, passata, cream and pepper and simmer for approximately 10 minutes. Add the gnocchi to the creamy sauce and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Season, serve and garnish.
Everyone! The gnocchi will likely take a couple of minutes longer to cook than packet instructions, because we aren’t submerging it in boiling water. Check it after 2-3 minutes.
Thermomixer? This easy dinner recipe is made all in your thermo cooker. Firstly, grate the parmesan and set it aside. Next, finely chop the basil and set it aside. Finely chop the garlic, onion and bacon and sauté in your machine. Add the basil, spinach, passata, cream and pepper and cook for 10 minutes. Add the gnocchi to the creamy sauce and cook (on REVERSE!) for another 3 to 4 minutes. Season, serve and garnish.
You’ll find the recipe card below, with ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both regular and thermo cooker methods.
Making ahead and freezing the tomato bacon sauce
Just like with my Fasta Pasta inspired Ravioli Milanese, this pasta sauce re-heats well. It’s an easy recipe to make ahead of time and either refrigerate or freeze, so that you can have dinner on the table super fast! If frozen, allow the sauce to defrost in the fridge overnight. Then, just gently re-heat the tomato cream sauce while you cook gnocchi in another pot. Add together and be done in about 5 minutes! If you have a little extra time, you can also use the one-pot method. Just gently re-heat the sauce and then add uncooked gnocchi, heating for another 3-4 minutes. Either way, this is another time-saving meal for a busy weeknight.
If you’re reheating the complete meal (sauce and gnocchi), then I suggest reheating gently on the stovetop, adding water to loosen the sauce.
Serving
This is a rich, satisfying main dish in itself, simply garnished with parmesan and basil. If feeling pretty indulgent (I often am! 😂) then serve with some garlic bread on the side to mop up that extra yummy sauce.
You could cook the sauce and rather than adding gnocchi, cook your favourite pasta variety on the stovetop to pour the sauce over. My toddler loves ravioli and spirali – along with gnocchi, these seem to be the easiest pasta shapes to eat when practicing his cutlery skills.
Looking for another great recipe? Try this Prawn/Shrimp and Pea Risotto. It’s another one-pot wonder to get good food on the table, fast!
If you make this Creamy Tomato, Bacon and Spinach Gnocchi, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing how my quick family recipes work for you and your family! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest too for more dinner recipes for family.
Happy cooking,
Chloe x
Creamy Tomato, Bacon and Spinach Gnocchi
Category: Family MainsTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 25 g parmesan cheese (Thermomixers: cut into 2cm cubes)
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves only (20g)
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
- 1/2 brown/yellow onion peeled and halved
- 150 g bacon excess fat trimmed off (approx. 2 rasher middle bacon) (Note 1)
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 250 g passata
- 75 g thickened cream/heavy cream
- 100 g baby spinach
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 500 g pack gnocchi
- salt to season to taste, for family over 12 months
- extra basil leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Grate the parmesan and set aside in a small bowl.
- Finely chop the basil and set aside in another small bowl.
- Finely chop the garlic, onion and bacon.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan, and sauté bacon mixture over medium-high heat until the onion is translucent.
- Add the basil, passata, cream, spinach and pepper. Bring to the boil, and then let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the gnocchi, and simmer for another 3-4 minutes. Once gnocchi is cooked, season to taste with salt. Serve and garnish with grated parmesan cheese and extra basil.
Thermomix Instructions
- Put the parmesan cheese into the mixing bowl. Mill for 7 seconds, speed 9, MC on. Set aside in a small bowl.
- Add basil to the mixing bowl. Chop 3 seconds, speed 5, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl and repeat. Set aside in another small bowl.
- Add onion, garlic and bacon to the mixing bowl. Chop 3 seconds, speed 5, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl.
- Add the olive oil. Sauté 5 minutes, 120°C, speed 1, MC off.
- Add the passata, spinach, basil, cream and pepper. Cook 10 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off. Put the simmering basket on the lid to prevent splatter.
- Add the gnocchi. Cook 3-4 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, reverse, MC off, checking after 3 minutes. Put the simmering basket on the lid to prevent splatter. Once gnocchi is cooked, season to taste with salt. Serve and garnish with grated parmesan cheese and extra basil.
One Response
My husband and two kids loved this dish. Super easy to make the regular way ❤️