This recipe is all about that sauce combining with the tender potato gnocchi. And wow that sauce. It’s full of deep umami rich flavour thanks to the sweet and sticky sundried tomatoes and sherry. And full of freshness form the basil. The ability of the eggplant to soak up flavour is what really make sit. Along with a good lug of extra virgin olive oil.

The idea for this dish came from something I ate at the Everleigh. We’d popped in for a cocktail after a long lunch that had turned into drinks and thought it was time for some extra food. We ordered their gnocchi dish to share and the combination of rich tomato, soft eggplant and tender gnocchi was amazing. I knew I’d be trying to recreate it at home.

The richness and depth of flavour in this dish is from the way the eggplant is fried along with the aromatics, the sun dried tomatoes and the wine. All are non negotiable and play an important role in creating that flavour. Oh and one more thing, be generous with the extra virgin olive oil. It gives richness to the dish as well as helping carry the flavours forward to create something that tastes super indulgent despite just being a vegetarian pasta sauce.

You could have the sauce with any short pasta. you can also use it in a pasta bake or bake the left over gnocchi with some mozzarella for a yummy way of reheating your leftovers. If you have any that is, this is a hard dish to stop eating. You’ll want to mop up the sauce with sourdough, or just your tongue. So lady like and graceful of me.

You can easily make this vegan by leaving out the cheese.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 finely sliced french shallot or 1/2 cup finely spring onion

1 Eggplants, chopped into 1 inch/2.5 cm chunks

1/3 cup roughly chopped sundried tomatoes

3 cloves garlic crushed

1/3 mild red chilli, including seeds, finely diced

1/2 cup sherry or cooking wine

1x 400g can tomatoes

1 cup basil

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan

Extra virgin olive oil to finish

500g gnocchi

Directions

Place a large, non stick, deep sided pan on medium high heat. Add the oil and once hot add the garlic, onion, chilli, sun dried tomato and eggplant. Toss to coat and cook until the eggplant is lightly golden on all sides.

Add the sherry and cook for a few minutes or until mostly evaporated. If it’s sticking at any stage add a touch more oil.

At this point place a large pot of salted water on high heat and bring to the boil.

Add the canned tomatoes and stir to coat evenly. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until sauce has darkened and eggplant is soft. Taste and season with salt, pepper and a touch of raw sugar if the tomato tastes too acidic.

Allow to continue simmering while you cook your gnocchi according to packet directions.

Mix together the cooked gnocchi, 2/3 of the basil and the parmesan cheese. Add more extra virgin olive oil to loosen if needed. Serve with an extra drizzle of the oil, a sprinkle of parmesan and the remaining basil leaves scattered over the top. The oil really makes this dish and carries all the lovely flavours forward so don’t be afraid to be generous with it. You can allow up to 1 Tbs per person in your final dish and it won’t taste too oily.

HH. x