I subscribe to two cooking magazines, Good Food and Olive, and every month I fold down the pages of recipes I like the look of and then happily put the magazines on my bookshelf and forget all about them. When I look through them again, there are always recipes I’ve marked which are a bit different to my normal tastes, and I’m fairly certain I will never make them. This is one of those recipes, and this week I decided I was just going to go for it. If I didn’t like it, I could just not make it again. But I did like it. A lot.
This is so simple, fresh tasting and actually rather pretty. The original recipe is vegetarian and I was tempted to leave it as such, but I couldn’t resist adding bacon. I’m sure, though, that it would be yummy without, so make this veggie if you want to 🙂
Gnocchi with mushrooms, spinach, bacon and poached egg
Adapted from Olive October 2011
Serves 2
Ingredients:
a little olive oil, for frying
15g butter
3 slices back bacon, sliced
250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g baby spinach
black pepper, to season
250g gnocchi (I used bought fresh, 3-4 minutes cooking time)
2 large, very fresh eggs
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the bacon. Fry until cooked through and then add the black pepper, mushrooms, garlic and butter. Fry until the mushrooms have softened, then turn the heat to low and wilt the spinach in while you cook the gnocchi and eggs.
Fill two large pans with boiling water and add a pinch of salt to each. In one pan, pour in the gnocchi. In the other pan, poach the eggs. I used gnocchi which took 3-4 minutes to cook, which was just the right amount of time for the eggs.
My method for poaching eggs (which I learnt from my nan) is to use a slotted spoon and stir the water in the pan quite quickly until it creates a sort of whirlpool. Quickly break an egg into the middle of whirlpool. It should cling together and begin to cook immediately, at which point you can push it gently to the side and create the whirlpool again. Alternatively, poach them one at a time.
Once the gnocchi is cooked, drain it and toss it in the pan with the bacon, mushrooms and spinach. Divide between two plates and add a poached egg to the top of each. Serve immediately.
Looks great! I don’t think I’d normally make something like this either, glad you took the risk!
Oh I love hhow you added a poached egg on there! That must be yummy with the gnocchi and bacon. Great idea!
This looks awesome! I love gnocchi, but it’s so filling. I like how you have the veggies included and the egg to break up the heaviness of the gnocchi!
Oooh, this looks delicious!!! I love gnocchi…and need to work it into our menu really soon~
Oh, this is delicious! What is it about a poached egg that makes everything so deliciously decadent?
Adding egg to a pasta dish is one of FAVORITE things to do! Never tried it with Gnocchi before – great idea.
I have never really done it before, although I do like to stir a beaten egg into the sauce when I do a plain tomato pasta 🙂
This is a great dish. Would try cooking the vegetarian version without adding any bacon.