Another installment of my very occasional series of adventures in not-really-cooking, and another dish I sometimes make when I can’t be bothered to cook properly. I recently had back-to-back recipe boxes with very faffy meals, so after two weeks of that, not really cooking is more appealing than ever.
This time it’s gnocchi, which, as they are made of potato and I am Scottish, I obviously love. But you should never cook them according to the packet instructions which tell you to boil them. You should always fry them. That way you end up with little crispy puffs of deliciousness instead of slimy blobs.
You can do lots of things with gnocchi, but my go-to is gnocchi with broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes. It takes under ten minutes, including prep, and is serious comfort food, while also containing some virtuous vegetables.
You will need gnocchi (you’ll find it in the pasta section of the supermarket), broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes (all pretty intuitive so far) plus salt, pepper, cheese and olive oil (or similar).
First (but see *) heat the olive oil in a frying pan, then dump in some gnocchi. The pack suggests 125g per person. I’m not going to suggest you double that but, you know, use your judgement based on how ravenous you are. It cooks in about eight minutes. Poke it regularly with a spoon. It will still stick, but you can soak the pan later and I promise this meal doesn’t produce that much washing up.
In between poking the gnocchi, cut the broccoli into small florets, put it in a microwaveable container with some salt and a little water and nuke it for 2 – 3 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave and your teeth. (You can of course boil it, but in these straitened times, microwaving is cheaper and probably more nutritious. *If you’re going to boil it, start it going shortly before you start frying the gnocchi.)
Meanwhile, chop some sundried tomatoes into little pieces and grate a moderate amount of cheese. Or an immoderate amount, if you’re me. Keep poking the gnocchi until they are golden and sort of bouncy.
Add the sundried tomatoes to the pan and stir in; then the broccoli; and last of all, the cheese.
Stir and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Tip into a bowl (remember to soak the frying pan at this point), add yet more cheese on top if you wish, and you don’t have a history of heart disease in your family, and scoff it like you stole it.
K C Murdarasi 
Yum! Might get the kids into this but not their salad dodging father..