Cheesy Chicken Gnocchi with Roasted Red Pepper

Is anyone else obsessed with gnocchi? Most times when I bring it up people are like “what is that??” It’s basically a miniature dumpling made from potato. Mixed with a yummy sauce and topped with cheese…it’s comfort food at it’s best.

I picked up some spinach gnocchi from the grocery store the other day. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with it. I didn’t want to do another sausage recipe since that’s mostly what I’ve done so far. So, I decided to use grilled chicken in a creamy Sicilian pesto sauce with roasted red peppers.

I had never tried Sicilian pesto before. I’m a huge fan of regular pesto so I thought I would give it a try. It’s basically basil pesto with crushed red peppers and chopped tomato added. The one I picked up from the store was Sicilian pesto with sun dried tomatoes. It is SO GOOD. The sauce turned out amazing. I used unsweetened almond milk as the creamy base, added some diced tomatoes with green chilies, then stirred in the pesto. It ended up so delicious.

I stirred in some shredded mozzarella to the sauce to thicken it up. I used a cast iron skillet so I could top the dish with more cheese and pop it in the oven so the cheese was perfectly melted.

This recipe is super easy and only takes about 35 minutes to make! Great quick weeknight dinner idea! Hope you all enjoy!

Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 package of gnocchi
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or cream of your choice)
• 1 10oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1/2 cup of Sicilian pesto with sun dried tomatoes (or regular sun dried tomato pesto)
• 1 cup chopped roasted red peppers
• 2 cups frozen grilled chicken strips
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Warm your cast iron skillet (or oven safe skillet) over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic. Let simmer for 2 minutes.
3. Add gnocchi. Saute until slightly browned (about 5 minutes).
4. Stir in milk. Let simmer for about 3 minutes and then add tomatoes, pesto and Italian seasoning. Stir until mixed thoroughly.
5. Add chicken and let cook for another 3 minutes. Then, add 1 cup of cheese and stir until sauce is thickened.
6. Add remaining shredded cheese to the top of dish. Place in oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.
7. Remove from oven and enjoy!

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