Spinach Pesto Gnocchi

You could make this delicious, burrata-topped spinach pesto gnocchi recipe with regular basil pesto if you’ve got lots of gorgeous fresh basil. But we love this spinach-pesto version, too! We love the extra healthy boost that you get from including spinach; loaded with iron, potassium, folate and antioxidants, we like to add leafy greens to recipes like this whenever possible. Tossed into pesto, spinach rises to new heights. Toss that delicious spinach pesto with tender, pillowy gnocchi, and it’ll be so irresistible, your kids might even gobble it up! With a short ingredient list and cook time, this super delicious, 15-minute vegetarian meal is a keeper. 

Key Ingredients

• Gnocchi: We used regular, store-bought packaged potato gnocchi for this recipe, but if you want to keep things lighter and lower carb, you could easily swap in Cauliflower Gnocchi, whether homemade or store-bought.
• Spinach-Basil Pesto: Fresh homemade pesto can’t be beat! We’re currently mad about this spinach version, which is crazy healthy and super delicious. Use fresh Parm, fresh basil — fresh everything! 
• Burrata: Burrata cheese looks a lot like fresh mozzarella, and is very very similar. Instead of being stretched and rolled into a ball, though, burrata is stretched and folded into a little pouch. That pouch of tender, fresh cheese is then  filled with thick cream and some more stringy bits of mozzarella curd. When you cut or tear the burrata open, it will be all oozy and gorgeous. It *makes* this pesto gnocchi recipe. 

Easy Spinach-Basil Pesto, Step-by-Step

1. Put the spinach, basil, Parmesan, the garlic clove, pine nuts and salt in a food processor.
2. Slowly, steadily pour the olive oil into the food processor as it runs.
3. You’re done! If you’re going to err, err on the side of a chunkier pesto. You can always switch to pulsing after you’ve incorporated the olive oil so you can really control the texture.   

How To Make Speedy Pesto Gnocchi

1. Make the pesto. Attention meal preppers! You can make the spinach pesto a few days ahead of time — it’ll keep well in an airtight container in the fridge. It might lose a bit of its vibrancy, but it will still be delicious. 
2. Cook the gnocchi. Be sure to generously salt the pasta water, because you’ll use some of it to finish the dish. 
3. Pesto + pasta cooking water + gnocchi. Adding a little pasta water is a classic restaurant trick. It gives the finished pasta a slight creaminess, and helps the pesto coat each gnocchi. 
4. Tear the burrata up and lay it over each serving. 
5. Dig in! 

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