Sheet Pan Gnocchi With Leeks, Cherry Tomatoes and Gouda. Laurin Bulbin/The Washington Post
When the rush of the workweek is over, I look forward to a quiet weekend in, reading and maybe doing some watercoloring for fun. For dinner, I like to lean on that modern kitchen workhorse, that 18-by-13-inch tray of aluminum, the popular-but-not-pretty sheet pan.
As of this summer, I’ve been at The Washington Post for five years. Looking back, I’m proud of the work I’ve put into this newsletter, and of the hundreds of recipes I’ve developed. I’ve persuaded you to turn meaty dishes vegetarian, to lean on your cast-iron skillet, to sear and stir-fry at high heat, to broil and bake until things are crisp and almost blackened, and - maybe best of all - to do everything with flexibility, with recipes that make it easy for you to substitute ingredients that you already have in your kitchen.
What I haven’t done a lot of is the traditional sheet-pan dinner. I’ve certainly used sheet pans - to broil, bake or roast - but not usually to cook an entire meal all at once. Not like this recipe for Sheet Pan Gnocchi With Leeks, Cherry Tomatoes and Gouda, where everything goes onto the pan at the same time. It then all goes into the oven until it’s done and ready to spoon onto a plate. Not all sheet-pan recipes are this straightforward. There’s no pulling it out to flip some of the food. There’s no rotating the pan halfway through.
The idea came to me one afternoon when I was running late and trying to do too many things at the same time. My colleague Olga Massov had recently published her cookbook, "Hot Sheet,” with co-author Sanaë Lemoine. I was on maternity leave, and, most days, I was both exhausted and hungry as a wolf.
I had been clinging to cooking. It felt like a way to reconnect with my sense of self. Often, awake in the middle of the night for one reason or another, I’d bake a cake or stir together the ingredients for focaccia or start a pot of beans or peel open a few cans of tomatoes to make some sort of meaty red sauce.
But on that cloudy, too-humid Friday afternoon, weary from a night full of crying and feeding, I thought about what Olga and Sanaë wrote in their introduction: "If there’s one thing food writers and recipe developers truly loathe, it’s washing dishes, and because we have to do so much of it, we’re always devising ways of doing that as little as possible.” They continued: "How? By using a simple, inexpensive, and durable piece of kitchen equipment you likely already have in your kitchen - the sheet pan.”
I opened my refrigerator and picked out a couple of leeks, a package of gnocchi and a block of Gouda. I pulled a sheet pan out of a cabinet and lined it with parchment paper. I turned the oven on high. I sliced and cleaned the leeks. I poured a lot of olive oil onto the parchment. On top of it went the leeks, gnocchi, handfuls of Sungold tomatoes, a drained and rinsed can of white beans, salt and pepper, and that Gouda, shaved fine with my vegetable peeler.
Half an hour later, I heard the sound of leeks sizzling, and my kitchen smelled fantastic. I pulled the sheet pan out of the oven, spooned the hot food over bowls of arugula and called my partner, Joe, over.
"Dinner’s ready,” I said. "I’m not sure if it’s going to be good, but there’s only a cutting board and sheet pan to wash.”
"Sounds perfect,” Joe replied.
As I ate, I noticed how the tomatoes, leeks and olive oil had formed a silky sauce around the gnocchi and beans. I loved how the cheese turned into little fricos over everything and how, thankfully, just a few ingredients and one pan did most of the work.
Sheet Pan Gnocchi With Leeks, Cherry Tomatoes and Gouda
Total time: 45 minutes. Active time: 15 minutes.
Serves 4-6 (makes 8 cups gnocchi)
Roast store-bought gnocchi with leeks, cherry tomatoes, white beans and Gouda for a sheet-pan dinner that’s ready in less than an hour. The leeks and tomatoes melt into a luscious sauce, while the Gouda, shaved on top of everything before it goes in the oven, turns into delicious cheese crisps. Cannellini beans, tossed onto the pan with everything else, add protein. Sweet Sungold or other yellow cherry tomatoes are especially good with the leeks. Positioning a pan closer to the top of the oven allows the heat to radiate onto the sheet pan, ensuring the gnocchi and cheese turn brown and crisp. For the best results, use store-bought, refrigerated gnocchi; shelf-stable, frozen or homemade gnocchi won’t work well here. Be sure to scoop up any sauce left at the bottom of the pan - it’s the best part.
Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup olive oil
One (16-ounce) package refrigerated potato gnocchi
2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, trimmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 pound cherry tomatoes, preferably yellow or orange
One (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
2 ounces Gouda cheese, thinly sliced or shaved with a vegetable peeler
5 ounces (5 cups) fresh arugula (baby or regular)
DIRECTIONS
Position a rack about 6 inches from the top of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with foil or parchment, if desired, and add the oil to the pan. Add the gnocchi, leeks, tomatoes, beans, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix well until the ingredients are coated in the oil and evenly distributed. Spread everything out in an even layer, with some overlap, if necessary.
Evenly distribute the Gouda over everything and transfer to the oven. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are slumped and juicy, the leeks and gnocchi are browned around the edges, and the cheese melts or, ideally, turns into crisp fricos.
Divide the arugula among bowls and top each with 1 1/3 to 2 cups of the gnocchi mixture. Serve hot, with additional salt and pepper on top, if desired.
Substitutions:
Gluten-free? >> Use gluten-free potato gnocchi.
Leeks >> 1 medium yellow onion, very thinly sliced, or 6 thinly sliced scallions.
Instead of cherry tomatoes >> you can use whole tomatoes, roughly chopped, but the gnocchi might not brown as much and there will be more tomato juice in the pan.
Cannellini beans >> other white beans, such as navy or Great Northern, or chickpeas (home-cooked or store-bought).
Arugula >> baby spinach or baby kale.
Gouda >> other melty cheese, such as cheddar or mozzarella.
Nutritional Facts per serving (1 1/3 cups gnocchi and about 2/3 cup arugula), based on 6 | Calories: 353, Fat: 13 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Carbohydrates: 49 g, Sodium: 596 mg, Cholesterol: 24 mg, Protein: 12 g, Fiber: 7 g, Sugar, 6 g
This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.
From staff writer G. Daniela Galarza.
