Spelt gnocchi with parsley pesto

Carbon emissions: 1.33kg per serving

By Simon Bishop

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 800g mashed potato – (made from baking waxy potatoes through the oven and scooped from the skin)
• 500g Spelt flour
• 40g Cornish sea salt
• 100g flat leaf parsley 
• 50g pumpkin seeds + 20g for garnish
• 4 cloves garlic
• 100g baby leaf spinach 
• 400ml rapeseed oil
• 2 courgette – (cut into 1cm dice)
• 50g baby kalettes (cut in half, normal kale can also be used)
• 2 red onion – (peeled and cut through the root into wedges)
• 200g chestnut mushrooms – (cut in halves)

Method

1. Scoop the potato from the skins into a large bowl and add the salt and half of the spelt flour and mix to form a dough.  If the dough is too sticky add more flour a bit at a time and mix in until its firm and pliable.  Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 30 minutes. (recommend 15 pieces per person as portion, any spare can be frozen as in stage 2 for later use).
2. Remove the gnocchi dough from the fridge and divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.  Roll out each piece into a sausage shape that is roughly 1cm high.  Cut these into 1cm pieces so they look like little pillows.  The gnocchi can be used like this or pressed onto the back of the tines of a fork to put ridges into them.  Put onto a plate and back inside the fridge (the gnocchi can also be frozen at this stage and when frozen can be transferred into portion bags to be used at a later date).
3. To make the pesto, put the parsley including the stalks, pumpkin seeds, 25g baby leaf spinach, garlic cloves and rapeseed oil into a beaker and using an electric handheld blender, blend to a smooth puree.  Season using Cornish sea salt to taste.
4. Put a pan of water onto a high heat and bring to a rolling boil.  Add another large frying/saute pan over a high heat and add some rapeseed oil.  When the rapeseed oil starts to lightly haze, add in the onions and cook until they start to colour.
5. Add the gnocchi to the pan of boiling water.
6. Add the courgette, chestnut mushroom and kalettes to the saute pan and continue to cook until everything starts to colour.
7. When the gnocchi rises in the water and floats, lift it out of the water with a slotted spoon, allowing it to drain and add it to the saute pan.  Add the parsley pesto (reserving a small amount to drizzle over the top when plated) and the baby spinach and thoroughly mix to ensure all of the gnocchi is coated by the pesto.
8. To serve, divide the gnocchi equally between your dishes and dress with the reserved parsley pesto and pumpkin seeds.

All calculations made using our Carbon Food Calculator