Author Theo Michaels says: “Oven-baked gnocchi bathed in a creamy asparagus sauce and with pockets of melting blue cheese – sheer comfort-food heaven! Using creamy asparagus soup, canned asparagus and long-life gnocchi means you can create this delicious supper in no time at all with minimum effort. Win win.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 425g can or jar asparagus spears, drained
• A splash of olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• A knob of butter
• 800g long-life gnocchi
• 400g can cream of asparagus soup
• 75g blue cheese, such as Stilton or Shropshire blue
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Rustic bread, to serve 

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/Gas 7.

Drain the asparagus, reserve a few spears to garnish, then chop the rest and set aside. 

Add a splash of olive oil to a large ovenproof pan and fry the onion for a few minutes until soft, then stir through the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the chopped asparagus and season generously. Cook for a couple of minutes and while cooking, press down on the asparagus to break it down a little more, then remove the mixture from the pan to a plate.

Add the butter to the same pan (no need to wipe it first) and fry the uncooked gnocchi just long enough to colour – a couple of minutes should do it. Return the chopped asparagus and onion mixture to the pan and pour in the can of soup and a few tablespoons of water. Mix everything together, bring to a gentle simmer and remove from the heat.

Scatter over the reserved asparagus spears and crumble the blue cheese over the top. Place the whole pan in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Serve straight from the pan with rustic bread to mop up the sauce.

Extracted from Canned by Theo Michaels (£18.99, Ryland Peters & Small).

Author Jo Pratt says: “We all need a few quick and easy weeknight suppers to rely on and this could soon become one of your regulars. It’s well worth keeping a bag of fresh gnocchi in the fridge for emergency suppers. Double up on quantities and make a couple of trays if you’ve an army of kids to feed. If you want to make it go even further serve with some garlic bread and a big green salad.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 medium-large aubergine (eggplant), cut into bite-size chunks
• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 x 400g/14 oz tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
• 1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• Handful chopped basil
• 450g/1 lb fresh gnocchi
• 200g/7 oz mozzarella
• Flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7.

Put the onion and aubergine in a roasting tray or baking dish big enough for them to sit in a single layer. Toss in the oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, turning halfway for even cooking, until they are lightly golden.

Mix together the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, garlic, sugar, balsamic, basil and 100ml/3½ fl oz/scant ½ cup water.

Remove the tray from the oven and pour in the tomato mixture, add the gnocchi and stir around to coat in the sauce.

Tear the mozzarella into pieces and dot around the tray. Drizzle with olive oil and add a twist of pepper. Return the tray to the oven for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden.

Flexible

Upgrade: you can add a variety of ingredients to this to make it different every time you serve it. Add diced chorizo or spicy Italian sausage with the onions and aubergine (eggplant). Or add some chilli, olives, capers or anchovies to the sauce. I also like to scatter in some tinned flaked tuna or prawns when adding the gnocchi.

Veggie-lover: for added veggies, stir some spinach through the sauce or throw in a handful of green beans.

Cheese-lover: try a different cheese such as taleggio, ricotta, dolcelatte or a generous scattering of Parmesan. The options really are endless.

Extracted from The Flexible Family Cookbook by Jo Pratt (£20, White Lion Publishing).

Author Alan Rosenthal says: “I only recently discovered that store-bought gnocchi can be roasted straight from the packet and doesn’t need to be boiled first. This makes for an extremely simple and comforting dinner any night of the week. Please don’t be alarmed if some of the vegetables become quite dark during the roasting process here. This is perfectly normal and gives great flavour! Don’t be tempted to mix things around more than I suggest otherwise you’ll end up with steamed rather than roasted vegetables.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 medium aubergine (eggplant) (about 250g/9oz), cut into 1cm (½in) pieces
• 1 red (bell) pepper, roughly chopped
• 1 courgette (zucchini), cut into 1cm (½in) dice
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges, broken up slightly
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 10g (¼oz) basil leaves
• 600g (1lb 5oz) store-bought gnocchi
• 200g (7oz) cherry tomatoes
• 125g (4½oz) soft goat’s cheese (or vegetarian alternative)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Grated Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Crumple a roughly 35cm (14in) square piece of non-stick baking parchment into a ball. Open it out and use it to line your wide shallow pot. 

Add the chopped aubergine (eggplant), red (bell) pepper, courgette (zucchini) and red onion to the pot and toss with 3 tbsp of the oil, a good few pinches of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes, then give things a good mix. Cook for another 15 minutes and give everything another toss. Return to the oven for 10 minutes. 

While the veg are cooking, using a mortar and pestle, crush the basil leaves with a pinch of salt. Add the remaining oil and continue grinding until you have a fragrant, slightly lumpy, green basil oil. Once the vegetables are cooked, remove the pot from the oven. Remove the paper; it should just slip out from under the vegetables. Ensure any precious cooking juices are allowed to drain back into the pot. 

Add the gnocchi and cherry tomatoes to the pot and give everything a toss so they are mixed through the roasted vegetables. Pop the pot back in the oven for 15 minutes without any further stirring. 

Remove from the oven and dot the goat’s cheese (or vegetarian alternative) and basil oil all over and gently mix through to encourage the cheese to melt a little. 

Serve straight from the pot at the table with plenty of Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative) and freshly ground black pepper.

Extracted from Foolproof One-Pot by Alan Rosenthal (£12.99, Quadrille).