Gnocchi in Red Sauce with Mushrooms and Kale
Shelf-stable gnocchi simmered in a tomato sauce built from paste, dried mushrooms, and kale flakes.
- calories
- 760
- weight
- 7.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 101
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Shelf-stable gnocchi | 8 oz | the vacuum-packed kind, not refrigerated |
|---|---|---|
| Dried mushroom slices | 1/2 oz | button or cremini, cut small |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for canned tomato sauce |
| Tomato paste | 1 tbsp | from a tube or a single-serve packet |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp | chopped, in place of cherry tomatoes |
| Dried kale or spinach flakes | 1/4 cup | |
| Dried shallot or onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 1/2 tbsp | |
| Balsamic vinegar | 1 tsp | a dropper bottle, or skip it |
| Powdered whole milk | 1 tbsp | replaces the cream |
| Hard cheese | 1.5 oz | aged provolone or parmesan; mozzarella will not travel |
| Salt, black pepper, nutmeg | 1/2 tsp, 1/2 tsp, a pinch | |
| Dried basil | 1 tsp |
Method
- Pour 600 ml of water into the pot and add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, shallot, and kale flakes. Bring it to a boil and hold it there for three minutes so the mushrooms rehydrate.
- Stir in the tomato powder, tomato paste, garlic powder, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and basil. It will look thin. It thickens later.
- Add the gnocchi and simmer four to five minutes, stirring often. Gnocchi sticks to a pot bottom faster than pasta does.
- Cut the heat. Stir in the olive oil, the milk powder, and the vinegar.
- Grate or crumble the cheese over the top, lid on, two minutes. Stir once and eat.
This started as an oven dish: sauce built in a skillet, then baked under fresh mozzarella. The oven is the first thing to go, and fresh mozzarella is the second. Shelf-stable vacuum-packed gnocchi cooks in five minutes of simmer, so the whole thing collapses into one pot on one burner.
Tomato powder does the work of a can of sauce at a tenth of the weight, and the tomato paste gives it the depth a thin rehydrated sauce otherwise lacks. Milk powder covers for the cream, and an aged hard cheese melts into the sauce instead of sitting on top of it. The nutmeg looks odd on the list and belongs there anyway.
Packing
Everything dry except the gnocchi and cheese goes in one bag: mushrooms, tomato powder, sun-dried tomatoes, kale, shallot, milk powder, and the spices. Oil, vinegar, and tomato paste ride in small tubes. Cheese in its own bag.
Variations
- A splash of red wine at the sauce stage if you are car-camping and have a bottle open.
- Swap half the cheese for a foil packet of white beans to push the protein higher.
- Dried sausage or salami, sliced in at the simmer, if you are not keeping it vegetarian.
https://ohmyveggies.com/baked-gnocchi