Perfect for Meat-Free-Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday…

SERVES: 4 – 6
COOKING TIME: 10 mins
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: Meat-Free-Monday, midweek meal, family
BUDGET: £

Don’t be afraid of this corn and tomato gnocchi recipe.

It sounds like it makes no sense and isn’t actually going to taste very nice.

But ‘bear with’, it’s a great midweek, emergency meal.

Or a Meat-free-Monday dish.

Jonathan Waxman

Now, if you haven’t heard me rave enough about Chef Jonathan Waxman.

Or his amazing, cool restaurant, Barbuto’s NYC*.

(*which has now moved around the corner due to developers pushing him out of the coolest building – it was an old garage so all the doors opened up in summer).

And let’s not forget Barbuto’s famous, JW Chicken recipe.

– you MUST try it. It’s so simple but the flavours are epic.

So, if you haven’t had all that before, then let me introduce you to another great example of JW’s cooking.

It’s simple, uncomplicated and yet, tastes amazing.

Corn and tomato gnocchi

Now, the weirdest part of this recipe is the frozen gnocchi.

And I don’t mean, get it out of the freezer, defrost and use.

This recipe is, get it out of the freezer and cook with it straight away!

Now, JW and I go our separate ways here a little with his recipe.

Firstly, I use canned sweetcorn, not fresh but you can go either way.

And JW, obviously makes fresh gnocchi and then freezes it for later cooking.

I have made homemade gnocchi and it is better, mainly it’s lighter and not so dense as bought gnocchi.

But, lockdowns are (hopefully) a thing of the past so making homemade pasta isn’t on my high list anymore.

I think you have to be passionate about pasta to make it, I, sadly, I am not.

But, I do like to buy quality fresh pasta and there are great online shops that sell fresh pasta and deliver.

However, I like this recipe as a quick, emergency or midweek meal.

So, that means I use store-bought gnocchi from the closest store and then I pop them in the freezer for the time I need to whip this recipe up.

You can decide which route you take… either make a lovely dish.

JW’s corn, tomato and gnocchi – a perfect midweek meal or meat-free Monday dish

Corn and tomato gnocchi

Ingredients

  • 400g of frozen gnocchi
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 290g of sweet corn (I use canned but JW using 2 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • salt and pepper for seasoning
  • 1 bunch basil, chopped
  • 1/4 grated Parmesan

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter and oil are almost golden, add the frozen gnocchi and sauté for 3 mins, moving them around so all sides start to turn golden. You may need to do it in batches to prevent over-crowding.

2.  Add another tbsp of olive oil, and the corn and cherry tomatoes and continue to cook for 2 mins.

3. Add the remaining butter and 2 tablespoons of cold water.

4. Season with salt and pepper and toss in the parmesan and basil. Serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this quirky dish.

My family think it’s a winner… and they’re true meat-eaters!

Inspired by: Jonathan Waxman