Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce with Gnocchi
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I love this gnocchi recipe as it manages to incorporate loads of vegetables, whilst still tasting comforting and indulgent with tomato and mascarpone sauce.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe is great
This tomato gnocchi recipe is great for many reasons. The tomato and mascarpone sauce is made with minimal ingredients and little effort. The roasted veggies provide nutrients and flavour, with half of the veg being blended in the sauce. So it’s healthy, easy to make and so so flavourful.
It’s ideal for a weeknight dinner as the main cook time is in the oven, so you can sit back and relax after work/uni without standing over the stove for an hour.
I also use this tomato mascarpone sauce recipe for meal prep as it’s so saucy, that when you reheat it over time, the gnocchi is still rich and creamy.
Other gnocchi recipes for you to try after this one…
- Gnocchi alla Sorrentina
- Crispy Roasted Gnocchi with Chorizo and Vegetables
- One pot Creamy Tuscan Gnocchi
- Cheesy Tomato Gnocchi Bake with Hidden Veg
Ingredients
Mixed Peppers/Courgette/Red Onion
A great trio, for flavour and nutrients.
Plum Tomatoes
I like to use plum tomatoes as they have the best flavour out of the canned tomato products. You could definitely use chopped tomatoes or passata though if you can’t find plum tomatoes.
Packet Gnocchi
I use any store bought packet gnocchi for this tomato and mascarpone recipe. If you wanted to try a homemade gnocchi recipe, check out my Homemade Pan-fried Sweet Potato Gnocchi recipe
Mascarpone Cheese
Go for full-fat mascarpone cheese here as we’re only using 125g for 5 portions . This will give us the creamiest/richest tomato and mascarpone sauce which is what we’re after.
See the recipe card for full information on all ingredients and quantities.
How to make tomato and mascarpone sauce with gnocchi
- Start by prepping the courgettes into quarter cube size pieces (Image 1).
- Then slice the cherry tomatoes in halves and slice the red onions (Image 2).
3. Slice the peppers into batons (Image 3).
4. Then add the chopped vegetables into a large bowl and mix together (Image 4).
5. Add olive oil, oregano salt and pepper and mix the vegetables together (Image 5).
6. Then place the vegetables on a large baking tray. Pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the veg start to take on some colour (Image 6).
7. Meanwhile, add the plum tomatoes to a medium saucepan to simmer for 15 minutes with the chicken stock (Image 7).
8. In a separate pan, add the gnocchi to simmer in salted water and cook for around 5 minutes, before transferring the drained gnocchi into the tomato based sauce to continue to cook (Image 8).
9. When the vegetables have finished roasting, add half of them into the saucepan. Now blend with the plum tomatoes to form a smooth tomato and roasted vegetable sauce and reduce to a low heat (Image 9).
10. After the gnocchi has cooked in the sauce for around 5 minutes. remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute. Then stir in the mascarpone cheese, parmesan and red wine vinegar into the gnocchi to make the creamy sauce (Image 10).
Serve up the gnocchi and top with the reserved roasted veg and some optional parmesan.
Other recipes with tomato based sauces for you to try after this one … Easy Quorn Bolognese, Spicy crab linguine and Mushroom Rigatoni Ragu
Hints & Tips
- If you want crispier, more caramelised veggies, slice into smaller chunks and use two trays to ensure that there is enough room to have the vegetables spread out without being on top of each other.
- Make sure that you season the veggies with a generous amount of salt and pepper as we’ve got a lot of veg to work with in this tomato gnocchi recipe.
- When you add the mascarpone cheese into the sauce, make sure the sauce isn’t too hot. If the sauce is boiling hot, when the cheese is added the sauce will split and the sauce will look curdled.
- Season the water heavily with salt (as salty as the sea) before adding the gnocchi to boil.
Here are a few sweet recipes for you to try … Tiffin Cake, Brownies and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Can you make it ahead of time?
Yes absolutely! I love to make this recipe for dinner meal prep, as it reheats really well. As the tomato and mascarpone sauce ratio to gnocchi is really high (<lots of sauce), there is no chance this recipe will dry out when reheating.
Just add a serving of the tomato gnocchi to a bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Reheat the roasted veggies separately either under the grill for 5 minutes or also in the microwave for a minute or two. Top a sprinkle of fresh parmesan and enjoy! Eat within 5 days of refrigerating.
FAQs
Yes! Freeze in individual portions and consume within 3 months. To defrost, remove from the freezer in the morning and leave to thaw so it’s ready to reheat by dinner time. Follow instructions above for reheating.
Mascarpone is a soft Italian acid-set cream cheese. I find it more neutral in flavour than regular cream cheese. It’s the perfect addition though when you want to add creaminess to a sauce that is richer than using regular cream. So a little goes a long way.
It’s a great source of calcium. It’s higher in fat than cream cheese, but as we’re only using a small amount for 5 servings, the levels of fat are healthily balanced with the other elements of the mascarpone gnocchi recipe.
This recipe is loaded with vegetables which are roasted, preserving the nutrients in the veggies. By half blending the veggies in the tomato and mascarpone sauce, we’re loading each serving with an amount of vegetables that we usually wouldn’t enjoy per serving.
The sauce is also made from scratch, so it has less additives and sugars that would be found in a store-bought tomato and mascarpone sauce.
If you tried this Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce with Gnocchi recipe, it would be mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce with Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 3 mixed peppers, chopped into thin strips (£0.92)
- 2 courgettes, sliced thin quarter pieces (£1.00)
- 250 g cherry tomatoes, halved (£0.49)
- 1 red onion, sliced into quarters (£0.49/3)=(£0.16)
- 2 tins of plum tomatoes (£0.28x2)=(£0.56)
- 1 kg gnocchi (£0.65x2)=(£1.30)
- 125 g mascarpone cheese (£0.90)
- 50 g parmesan, finely grated (£1.55/2)=(£0.78)
CUPBOARD ESSENTIALS
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp oregano
- 200 ml chicken/vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic granules
Method
PREHEAT OVEN TO 180°C
- Start by placing the prepped vegetables into a large bowl, coating with olive oil, oregano salt and pepper. Toss to coat everything and place on a large baking tray. Pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the veg takes on some nice colour.
- After around 15 minutes, add the plum tomatoes to a medium saucepan to simmer for 15 minutes with the chicken stock.
- When the vegetables have finished roasting, add half of them into the saucepan and blend with the plum tomatoes to form a smooth tomato and roasted vegetable sauce. Reduce the heat down to low.
- In a separate pan, add the gnocchi to simmering salted water and cook for around 5 minutes. Then, transfer the gnocchi into the saucepan to continue to cook within the sauce.
- Remove from the heat and stir the mascarpone cheese, parmesan and red wine vinegar into the gnocchi. Serve up the gnocchi and top with the reserved roasted veg and some optional parmesan.
Notes
- If you want crispier, more caramelised veggies, slice into smaller chunks and use two trays to ensure that there is enough room to have the vegetables spread out..
- Season veggies generously with salt and pepper in tomato gnocchi recipe..
- When you add the mascarpone cheese into the sauce, make sure the sauce isn’t too hot. If the sauce is boiling hot, when the cheese is added the sauce will split and the sauce will look curdled.
- Season the water heavily with salt (as salty as the sea) before adding the gnocchi to boil.
Nutrition
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