My Graduation Ball & Obsession with Vegan Gnocchi

Spinach & Green Beans Gnocchi Pasta Bake with Coconut Cream

I've been slightly obsessed with Gnocchi lately. If you don't know what it is, Gnocchi is Italian potato dumplings that are super quick and easy to make. It is not very hard to make Gnocchi from scratch, but to be honest, you can get ready-made ones from bigger shops and they taste really good as well! So if you want to save some time I do suggest using ready-made ones from shops.

This particular recipe is for those vegans who miss creamy textures in their food (I certainly do sometimes). Coconut milk is a perfect substitute for creamy dishes and not only is dairy-free but also has way less calories than lets say double-cream. I used some of my favourite greens - spinach and beans for this dish as well. So if you feel like you might enjoy this Gnocchi pasta bake, press read more and have fun!

Also, read this post if you want to know how my Graduation Ball went and what vegan dishes I got to try there! You will see for yourself, that it is not as hard as you thought to be vegan!

A little bit about my Graduation Ball and me

I thought that after exams are done I will have so much time for myself and cooking, but to be honest it was other way round. First of all, sunny weather decided to come to Scotland (I know, odd :D ) so everyone was enjoying good weather as much as possible. Me and my flat mates spent a lovely day at Loch Lomond. Barbecued corn is something magical if you haven't tried it yet :) There were also some summer parties with barbecues happening in Glasgow, so basically I was spending every minute of my free time outside. I am still working at two jobs and usually have only 1 or 2 days off, so it's still quite hard to find some ME time.

Also, last week we had our Graduation Ball which was really fancy and nice. And you get to feel like a princess for one day As well! It was taking place in a Grand Central Hotel, everyone was wearing lovely clothes and there were more wine and Prosecco that you can imagine. We did have so much fun (okay, the next day we realised that maybe a little bit too much) and made some memories that we will never forget.

Also, if you were wondering what was I eating while everyone else had chicken and sticky toffee pudding, my three course dinner was fab as well. Once again, I do not think that we are missing out much as vegans. Starter was really simple but nice - fruit salad with strawberry sauce. For main course we got Gnocchi (I think that started my obsession with it as well). And dessert was really refreshing and light - lemon sorbet with strawberries. You can see pictures below, but now enough about me, let's move on to this recipe!

Starter

Main Course

Dessert

Only recently I have realised that Gnocchi is a wonderful thing if you are vegan. It is so easy to make and there are endless variation options. I will give you few recent recipes that I made. But it is really up to you what to put in your Gnocchi! Also, when I make Gnocchi dishes, I chose either to oven bake everything (it takes more time obviously, but sometimes I prefer oven baked ones because they are more flavoursome and you can make them a bit crunchy) or simply make a one-pan dish.

You Will Need

• 100g of Spinach
• 100g of Green Beans
• 200g of Gnocchi Pasta (Uncooked)
• 200ml of Coconut Milk (caned)
• 2 table spoons of Coconut Oil
• 1/3 of large onion
• 4-6 fresh Garlic Cloves
• 50 g of plain flour
• 100ml of White Wine
• Salt & Pepper

This spinach and green bean recipe is perfect for those vegans (and not only) that like creamier textures. I posted 2 short videos on Instagram last week so you can see for yourself how easy the process is. First of all, put deep frying pan or even a pot on a full heat and melt coconut oil. Chop onion and garlic and fry them. Then chop steamed green beans (you can use frozen ones if you don't have any fresh beans) and put them in a frying pan/pot as well. Then pour in all coconut milk, simmer and reduce the heat.

Boil some water for Gnocchi pasta. What I love most about Gnocchi that it takes only about 3-4 minutes for them to be ready! Meanwhile add 25g of flour to fried vegetables in coconut milk and stir everything very well. Then add spinach and white wine, and finish with 25g of flour again. It might happen that you will need less/more flour depending on the thickness of your coconut milk. I bough caned Blue Dragon coconut milk which is more thick than coconut milk from carton, like Alpro. Add in some salt and pepper and boiled Gnocchi pasta dumplings.

Cover pot and pre-heat the oven for about 190C. Put everything in a lasagne dish tray and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. I definitely wrote this before, but I will repeat myself. If you want any pasta oven bake to be firm and easy to slice with a knife, you need to turn the oven off and leave the dish there for at least couple hours. However, if you are hungry, that does not change the taste, so you can simply portion your oven dish with a large spoon.

I served this bake with side salad and coconut cream on side. Enjoy and have fun!

Few more words from me

I will be definitely posting some Gnocchi dishes in the future, because I am in love with them. So if you find Gnocchi as appealing as I do, stay updated! This week I already made spicy mushroom one that was lovely as well so maybe I will write about it next time.

Now when Grad Ball and sunny days in Glasgow are well behind us (yes, it's been raining for solid week now) there are still many many things to be looking forward! My actual graduation is on 1st of July and my parents are coming to Glasgow very soon as well! This summer has been really nice so far and let's hope for even better times in the future!

I hope you are enjoying your summer as well and I would like to thank you for reading my post and wish you sunny happy days!

With Love
Viktorija