Chicken Sausage Gnocchi Skillet

This gnocchi skillet gives you all the comfort of Italy, while keeping it simple and healthy enough to serve for the family without guilt!

I like this gnocchi skillet, because it's fancy enough to serve for dinner with friends, hearty and soulful enough to serve your Italian grandmother, but simple enough to make on a Wednesday night for your family, after running your kids in 10 different directions. The ingredients are simple, its a 20 minute meal and it the flavors will knock your socks off! I made this particular batch with regular potato gnocchi, however, if you are trying to keep it gluten free, use the Trader Joe's cauli-gnocchi (one of my favorite things at TJ's)! To make it vegan, skip the chicken sausage and the fresh mozzarella, and instead use chickpeas and some cashew ricotta.

“It's fancy enough to serve for dinner with friends, hearty and soulful enough to serve your Italian grandmother, but simple enough to make on a Wednesday night for your family, after running your kids in 10 different directions.”

Below I go over your shopping list and I breakdown the specific recipe and the steps to making this skillet dinner! This skillet serves 4.

Ingredients

* 2 packages of potato gnocchi

* 1 jar of Rao's Arrabbiata Pasta Sauce (Pro tip - while Whole Foods and other gourmet grocery stories carry this sauce, Costco actually offers it in a two-pack for the same price as most place carry it in single servings!)

* 3 Spicy chicken sausages (my favorite is from the butcher counter at Whole Foods)

* Handful of chopped spinach

* 1/2 a ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced into thin pieces

* 1/2 white onion chopped

* 3 tbsp minced fresh garlic

* 2 tbsp Italian seasoning

* Handful of Fresh basil, chopped

--- Cooking Steps ---

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add your 2 packages of gnocchi. Add salt to the water and cook until the gnocchi floats to the top (approx. 3-4 minutes). Drain the pasta once done and set aside. If you are using cauli-gnocchi, add the gnocchi to a pan with some olive oil and let it cook about 2-3 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown, before flipping with a spatula and cooking the other side.

2. In a regular pan, cook your chicken sausage - I like to cook the outsides for several minutes, before cutting the sausage up into thin slices, and then continue cooking until the sausage is cooked through. If you prefer, you can also cut the casing, chop up the sausage and the add to the pan for more of a ground meat. If you would like to make the meal vegan, use 1 jar of chickpeas instead. Add your chickpeas to a pan with olive oil, crushed red pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder, and cook until the chickpeas become slightly crispy.

3. In a cast iron skillet, add the chopped onion, spinach and minced garlic. Cook on low for several minutes until everything is cooked through.

4. Add your jar of Rao's (or whatever sauce you love!), your chicken sausage and the gnocchi and cook on medium low for 2-3 minutes.

5. Lastly, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and add the slices of mozzarella (I used 4 slices) into crevices in the skillet and then put in the oven for approx. 4-5 minutes, or until the cheese has totally melted. Top with fresh basil and voila!

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