Baked Gnocchi with Beef Seitan

By Bethany's Vegan Kitchen on 13/07/2024

Baked gnocchi in a rich tomato sauce, with pieces of beef-style seitan, and a cheesy breadcrumb topping. The tomato sauce is flavoured with roasted red pepper and roasted garlic, along with basil and oregano. You don't need to precook the gnocchi for this, it will cook as it bakes in the sauce

Start by roasting the red pepper and the garlic, for this you'll need:

One red pepper, deseeded and quartered
One bulb of garlic, sliced in half horizontally
A pinch of salt
One teaspoon of oil

Method:

Quarter the red pepper and remove the seeds, then slice the bulb of garlic in half horizontally. Drizzle half the oil on the red pepper and half on the cut sides of the garlic
Wrap the garlic in foil, then place both the pepper and garlic into an oven or air-fryer basket. Bake in the oven at 200°C/180°C fan-assisted for 35 minutes, or air-fry at 200°C for 20 minutes. Or until the skin on the pepper has blackened and the garlic is roasted
Peel off and discard the roasted red pepper skins, and squeeze the roasted garlic from the garlic skins

Baked Gnocchi with Beef Seitan

Serves: Four Cook time: 30-45 minutes

You'll need:

One tablespoon of oil
One small brown onion, diced
One tablespoon of tomato puree
600g of tinned tomatoes, chopped or whole, either will work
One bulb of roasted garlic
One roasted red pepper
Half a teaspoon of dried basil
Half a teaspoon of dried oregano
500g gnocchi
200g diced beef-style seitan, diced
50ml dairy-free cream
150g dairy-free cheese, grated
Two tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Method:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once it's warmed up, add in the onion and fry for five minutes
Add the diced seitan into the frying pan and continue cooking for another five minutes, stirring every now and then
Next, add the tomatoes, roasted garlic and roasted red pepper into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the blended tomato mixture into the frying pan and season with the dried basil and dried oregano, then add salt and black pepper to taste
Pop a lid on the sauce and leave it to simmer for at least five minutes, or for 20 minutes if possible. Stirring every now and then to ensure nothing sticks
Finally stir in the cream and then add the gnocchi and sauce into a air fryer safe/oven safe dish and mix well to combine. Top with the cheese then the breadcrumbs
Bake at 220°C/200°C fan-assisted for 20 minutes in the oven, or at 200°C for 15 minutes in the air fryer
Leave to stand for a couple of minutes before serving. It would be ideal served with crusty bread to scoop up the sauce