Seafood Gnocchi in Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce

At a glance, this recipe seems hard to put together, or might need a lot of effort to come up with. No no, please look twice. I've used high quality canned seafood instead of prepping them from scratch. Also possibly the hardest part, the gnocchi, I'm using store-bought pre-made version, that definitely saved tons of work.

Seafood gnocchi in roasted red bell pepper sauce - 

Ingredients (about 2 to 3 portions)?

• 400 grams frozen or fresh gnocchi
• 250 grams roasted red bell pepper
• 110 grams canned salmon
• 110 grams canned cockles
• 1 can/411 grams whole tomatoes
• 1/2 loosely packed cup basil
• 2 garlic cloves
• Some aged Parmigiano Reggiano
• Some salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

How?

If using fresh gnocchi, cook a little then scoop out and set aside first. Note that the cooking time for gnocchi is much quicker than pasta, so don't overdone it. If using frozen version, the one I got doesn't need to cook the gnocchi in water, only need to toss them in the sauce.

For the food processor, add 2 peeled garlic cloves, 1/2 cup of loosely packed basil, 1 can of whole tomatoes including its juice, roasted and lightly pickled red bell peppers without the juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend till smooth.

I used store bought roasted red bell peppers, which was lightly pickled also. If you need to do it from scratch, simply roast the red bell peppers with open flames on the stove till charred. Wrap the hot peppers in foil and wait a little before removing the foil and peeling off the skin. 

Bring out a big pan and pour in the mixed sauce.

Switch to medium heat and wait till the sauce starts bubbling. Adjust the heat to keep the sauce at a light bubbling stage. Continue to cook till the sauce thickens a bit. Add in the gnocchi and toss to mix.

Add in drained canned seafood. I used salmon and cockles. Toss till evenly blended. Taste and adjust if needed.

Plate and grate some aged Parmigiano Reggiano all over. It has to be aged, and definitely not the already grated version on the shelf. That I have to insist.  

So how's the result after putting together all these pre-made ingredients? Fantastic. The canned seafood, a big jar of roasted red bell peppers, and frozen gnocchi really save a lot of time and work, but without sacrificing any taste.

The aroma is definitely up there. After all I did blend in garlics and basil for extra kick. And the frozen gnocchi I got was soft and can easily get squashed with a little force by tongue. 

By the way, the canned seafood I got was purchased during my trip to Denmark, the Fangst brand with ingredients sourced from nordic waters. If you ever get a chance to visit Denmark, this is the stuff I would recommend you to stock up other than the wonderful Danish pastries and cakes.

Extended reading:

• Smoked sardines and stracciatella cheese crostini