This can be made with any sort of gnocchi: home-made, fresh, or shelf stable. It serves 3-4 as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 1 packet gnocchi
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ cup finely grated Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ teaspoon Chilli

Method

1. Heat olive oil over a low heat, and add the garlic and chilli. Take off the heat and leave to infuse.
2. Cook the gnocchi is a pot of salted boiling water until they start to float. Drain cooked gnocchi.
3. Strain infused oil (step 1 above) and heat.
4. Add drained gnocchi to hot oil and pan fry until golden brown, flipping once.
5. Add strained garlic and chilli to gnocchi.
6. remove from heat and stir through the cheese until cheese is melted.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 18 Large Pasta Shells
• 20g dried Porcini Mushrooms
• ½ cup Port
• 100g Ricotta Cheese
• 50g grated Romano Cheese
• 2 cups grated Mozzarella Cheese, divided
• 1 Jar Pasta Sauce, pre-made (I used garlic and red wine)
• Chopped Tomatoes
• ½ Onion, chopped
• Garlic, chopped
• 150g Spinach, chopped (I used free flow frozen spinach)
• Parsley, chopped
• 1 Egg
• Oil, for sautéing

Method
Soak Mushrooms in Port.

Cook shells halfway. Drain, and toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add spinach, and sauté just until wilted. Set aside.

Finely chop mushrooms, reserving port.

Mix Pasta sauce, tomatoes, and Port (from mushrooms).

In large bowl combine Ricotta, Egg, Romano, Parsley and 1 cup Mozzarella; combine well. Stir in mushrooms and spinach and combine well. Season with salt and pepper.

Assemble
Preheat oven to 180°C. Coat the bottom of a baking pan with tomato sauce. Fill each shell to the top, and place in the pan. The easiest way to stuff the shells is to use a pastry bag with no tip attached. Place the filled shells in rows, touching. (If using a deep dish the shells can be double stacked.) When all shells are in the pan, cover with more sauce, and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, and a little more parsley.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.