Spinach Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce and Parmesan with homemade gnocchi and homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Gnocchi

1. 8
   Boil the potatoes in their skins until completely tender, peel while hot and pass through a ricer into a smooth mash.

   StovePotMasher
2. 9
   Let cool a little, then add the flour, egg and salt and knead gently, just until the dough is no longer sticky.

   💡Knead little and use as little flour as possible: overkneaded dough makes tough, rubbery gnocchi.
3. 10
   Roll into ropes, cut into pillows of about 2 cm and press each one with the back of a fork.

   Knife
4. 11
   Cook in boiling salted water until the gnocchi float, then 1 minute more, and lift out with a slotted spoon.

   StovePotSlotted spoon

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
5. 12
   Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water, until they float.

   StovePot
6. 13
   Reserve a cup of the cooking water and drain.

   LadleorMeasuring cup

   💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.

For the Tomato sauce

1. 14
   In a bowl, mix the tomato paste, olive oil, garlic and oregano with the salt.

   StoveFrying pan
2. 15
   Add and fry 3 minutes, until the peppers soften.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 16
   Add and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

To assemble

1. 17
   Add the spinach to the sauce and cook 1 minute more, until it wilts.

   Stove
2. 18
   Transfer the gnocchi straight into the sauce with a little of the cooking water, stir gently and serve immediately with the Parmesan grated on top.

   💡Gnocchi are delicate: toss them in the sauce gently and only for a minute or two, or they fall apart.