Good food doesn’t require a long list of ingredients. In our new series, £5 Meals, we’ll bring you recipes that keep things simple – and under a fiver.
Stuck in a rut of cooking the same old meals, week in, week out? We get it. It’s hard to find time, money and energy to try new food during the week. Which is why this recipe for crispy gnocchi with ‘patatas bravas’ is so brilliant.
The dish, created by the team at Sorted Food, is a twist on the Spanish classic and will fill up a family of four, or make a banging dinner for two with leftovers for lunch the next day.
It’s easy to follow and inspired by ingredients that many of us will already have in the back of the fridge or cupboard, including onions, garlic and mayo.
But for those who need to head to the supermarket, the core ingredients come to £3.81 when purchased from Tesco (or £5.01 if you need to buy vegetable oil). We’ve included links below, with all prices correct at the time of publication.
Crispy gnocchi with ‘patatas bravas’
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 brown onions (20p)
6 cloves garlic (25p)
800g tinned chopped tomatoes (2 cans 56p)
2tsp smoked paprika (90p)
1kg pre-cooked gnocchi (2 bags £1.50)
4 tbsp mayonnaise (40p)
Total: £3.81 from Tesco
From the cupboard also need:
8 tbsp vegetable oil (£1.20 for 1l)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Get your sauce on
Halve, peel and finely dice 2 onions.
Tip 4 tbsp of the oil into a medium saucepan and place it over a medium heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer and loosen, tip in the onion and a generous pinch of salt.
Fry for 4-5 minutes, until softened slightly. Peel and crush six cloves of garlic while you wait. Once the onions have softened slightly, tip in ¾ of the garlic and fry for a further 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
Simmer
Tip 800g (usually two tins) of tomatoes and 2 tsp of the paprika into the pan and reduce the heat to low.
Simmer for 10-12 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by half. Get on with the rest of the dish while you wait.
Fry it up
Tip the remaining 4 tbsp of oil into a large frying pan and place it over a medium-high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer and loosen, tip in the gnocchi and a pinch of salt. Fry for 7-8 minutes, tossing regularly, until golden all over.
Get on with the rest of the dish while you wait. Beat the remaining garlic with 4 tbsp of mayonnaise in a small bowl. Season with a small pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper. If you are still waiting on your gnocchi and sauce, now would be a great time to do any washing up!
Serve
Divide the crispy gnocchi between plates and spoon over the tomato sauce.
Dollop on a generous spoonful of the mayo mix, sprinkle over 1 tsp of paprika and serve.