I made a huge batch of homemade gnocchi the other day, and as I was brainstorming simple ways for serving it, I thought that I’d give baking it a try – stick some freshly sautéed, golden brown gnocchi in the oven under a nice coating of Marinara sauce and a sprinkling of Mozzarella cheese?!

…What’s not to love?

…and more importantly, why haven’t I done this before?! Granted, this recipe does lend itself to the cooler weather – it’s the cozy, comfy, stick to your bones type of meal that’ll get you through a long snowy winter. And here I am posting it on the eve of summer, when the last thing anyone wants to do is heat up their ovens. In my defense, New England is currently osculating between weeks when it’s pushing 90 followed by weeks when it’s barely breaking 60, and I baked this on one of those cooler days when I was looking for ways to warm up the house without having to actually turn the furnace back on.

Ingredients:

• Gnocchi
• Butter/Olive Oil
• Marinara Sauce
• Mozzarella Cheese (grated)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F (~204 C).
2. Heat up a sauté pan or cast-iron skillet with a little bit of butter or olive oil in it. I used a cast-iron skillet since I could then just transfer it directly into the oven.
3. Cook the gnocchi in the heated pan, turning them gently as you go, until they are a beautiful golden-brown.
4. Pour the Marinara over the cooked gnocchi.
5. Sprinkle a generous amount of mozzarella cheese on top.
6. Place the gnocchi in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and started to brown.