Sausage and Gnocchi Marinara

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 7 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound Italian chicken sausage, sliced into bite-sized pieces

1 small white onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, not drained!

1 (1-pound) package potato gnocchi

2 handfuls fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup roughly-chopped fresh basil leaves

fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

freshly-grated Parmesan

Directions

Brown the sausage

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, flipping occasionally, until browned on both sides. Transfer the sausage to a clean plate and set aside.

Sauté the veggies

Add the remaining oil and onion to the pan and toss to combine. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, tomato paste, crushed red pepper flakes and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Simmer

Add the tomatoes (with the juices from the can) and stir to combine, using a wooden spoon to gently break up the tomatoes as they cook. Once the sauce reaches a simmer, reduce the heat to medium to maintain a low simmer. Add in the gnocchi and cooked sausage and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.

Finish

Add in the spinach and basil and gently toss until the spinach has wilted. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Serve. Serve warm, garnished with lots of Parmesan, and enjoy!