Super Gnocchi: Inspiration from Borough Market Demonstration Kitchen

The Demonstration Kitchen at Borough Market is such a good idea. It's not an in depth class that you have to study vigorously or dive head first into - it's like a little show that you can dip in and out of while you eat your lunch, really a social event, so all elements of daunt are completely absent. When I discovered that Celia Brooks, author of 5:2 Vegetarian, was taking the stand, I really wanted to get down there. I've been considering 5:2 for a while* (it's very much NOT recommended for diabetics though, I should say) but, ahem, failed on my first day. I'd like to blame the primary reason for this on the lack of vegetarian recipes out there for this popular diet: I bought the official 5:2 book from Amazon and was really disappointed with the huge focus on meat (and lack of pictures!), so I was both intrigued and excited to see what Celia came up with.

*personal hypocrisy alarm. When I first heard about the 5:2, my reaction was "there is NO WAY 500 calories a day a healthy - no one should do this!". I guess my own vanity beat my morals this time...

Anyway, the thing that I really liked about Celia's menu for the kitchen was that it looked like it could be completely tomatoless, and even mushroomless (although it seems as the Caramelised Artichokes were swapped to Garlic Mushrooms on the day - bummer for me but great for all the mushroomphiles as it's a really good recipe). Delighted with my free recipe sheet (they're always available if you go to the Demo Kitchen), I chose to opt not for the Cauliflower Couscous or Saffron Celariac and Puy Lentil Bowl - they both sound delicious but I decided to accommodate my veggie-hesitant BF's needs. The Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with Sage Butter won in all sorts of ways.

As I have a bit of a problem with sticking to recipes and always feel the need to force my own ideas upon the poor things, this is my own take on the gnocchi, for reasons of availability, preference and spontaneity - but was fully inspired by Celia's wonderful recipe. Certain substitutions included:

- a mix of rocket and kale instead of spinach
- chives instead of parseley
- mascarpone instead of ricotta
- mature cheddar instead of parmesan (that was purely an "I've already got cheddar in the fridge" thing, parmesan would have probably been more delicious)

and a few other bits. Which means, here is the process for

Baked Kale and Rocket Gnocchi with Sage and Baby Leek Butter

I saw the baby leeks in the supermarket and got a bit broody, so I wanted to incorporate them into the dish.

1) Preheat oven to 150C. Wilt the kale and then squeeze out all of the moisture. Make sure you cut out the chunky stalks and then chop as finely as possible. Mix thoroughly with all the gnocchi ingredients, so that quite a stiff dough is formed.

I didn't realise - if you chop chives reaaally finely, they make you cry

2) Boil a large pan of salted water. Shape the gnocchi mix into little balls (work out your size preference - I found smaller balls gave the impression of going further, although bigger ones were impressive to look at) and drop into the pan in batches (don't overcrowd). As soon as they float, lift them out with a slotted spoon and place onto a baking tray.

I've found the savoury version of wanting to lick the cake bowl

3) Make the sauce - put the butter, leeks and sage in a pan and cook gently until the butter is completely melted and the leeks softened. Pour this over the gnocchi in the baking tray and top with a good grating of Gruyère, or any other hard cheese you have to hand.

4) Bake for 10 mins, or until the sage is nicely crisped and the gnocchi are screaming at you to eat them, because they look so damn good.

Mmmmmm. This was so yummy, and even pretty healthy: the fat content could be lower (although I did use low fat mascarpone), but because of the absence of potatoes and small use of flour, this was a deceptively uncarby dish. And I got the VT-BF to eat kale!

Served: two portions, although I honestly thought we'd get four.
Took: About 45 mins. The concept itself doesn't take long at all, it's just cooking in batches that holds you up.
Things that went wrong: THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH. I wanted to eat this again the next night. The cooking itself was delightfully easy and therapeutic.

Celia Brooks' awesome blog about 5:2 vegetarianism is here, and you can catch your next Demonstration Kitchen at Borough Market here. Both thoroughly recommended!