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A quick 30 min ONE POT meal! With crumbled Italian sausage, sneaked in spinach and the best tomato cream sauce ever!
New year, new you, new cream sauce. A cream sauce so heavenly with perfectly cooked potato gnocchi, crumbled Italian sausage, and sneaked in greens for those picky eaters.
This comes together fast too – 30 min from start to finish – and everything cooks in one single pot (even the uncooked gnocchi) for the easiest clean up.
Ground beef/chicken/turkey can easily be subbed for the sausage, and any kind of greens will also work if spinach is not your jam (kale, swiss chard, or even chopped broccoli florets for extra veggies all around).
Serve with crusty bread to sop up all that sauce, a light salad and a glass of red for a complete meal.
DO I HAVE TO COOK THE GNOCCHI FIRST?
Not at all! That is the beauty of this recipe – the uncooked gnocchi cooks right in that tomato saucy goodness.
WHAT GNOCCHI IS BEST HERE?
I personally love cauliflower potato gnocchi but any gnocchi of your choosing should work very well in this recipe.
WHAT KIND OF SAUSAGE IS BEST HERE?
Sweet or spicy Italian sausage are both great options. Ground beef also works beautifully here.
WHAT IS TOMATO SAUCE? IS IT THE SAME AS PASSATA?
Tomato sauce, in the US, is tomato puree typically cooked down for a thick, smooth consistency with a relatively sweet flavor. Passata is simply uncooked tomato purée. You can use passata in place of tomato sauce, but it is not a completely equal substitute.
WHAT IS HEAVY CREAM?
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 24 ounces cauliflower potato gnocchi
- 4 cups chopped baby spinach
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup basil leaves
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Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add Italian sausage and onion, and cook until sausage has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
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Stir in garlic and Italian seasoning until fragrant, about 1 minute.
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Gradually whisk in beef stock and tomato sauce. Stir in gnocchi. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced and slightly thickened, and the gnocchi is cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
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Stir in spinach and heavy cream until the spinach has wilted, about 1-2 minutes.
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Stir in Parmesan; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
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Serve immediately, garnished with basil, if desired.
