So one of the reasons (or maybe excuses) I haven’t posted in so so long as the fact that I always forgot to take pictures of my food. But the beauty of these AIHBCDHTB (wow, that is NOT a catchy acronym) recipes is that they don’t really require pictures. Even more, there probably shouldn’t be pictures. Some things taste amazing but just don’t photograph well: this is one of those things.

Gnocchi is a great little change-up when you feel sort of feel like pasta but want something different than the basic spaghetti, penne etc. You can cook them and they’ll be done in 2 mins, which is great if you need food NOW, but when you bake them in the oven they become these amazing fluffy pillows with a crunchy exterior. Which you can then smother in blue-cheese sauce: perfection.

For 2 persons (approximately 800 kcals per serving)

• 200 grams (raw) bacon bits;
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped;
• 2 pinches of thyme;
• 1 or 2 splashes of whatever wine you have at hand (you can also omit this);
• 100 mL cream (I used soy based but use whatever you prefer!);
• 65 grams blue cheese, crumbled or cut up;
• 2 hands of cherry tomatoes, either whole or halved
• 400 grams gnocchi.

Start with preheating your oven to 230°C (446 F) and spread the gnocchi out on a baking sheet. You can spray them with some olive oil for a little extra taste but this is not required. Bake the gnocchi for 20-30 minutes: the outside should be darkening a bit but you don’t want to burn them! You can turn/shuffle them while they bake. For the last 10 minutes add the cherrytomatoes.

Meanwhile make the sauce: start with adding the bacon bits to a (heated) pan, and when they gain a little color, add the garlic and the thyme. As soon as the garlic starts to brown a little, add the wine and turn down the heat. After the wine has reduced a little, crumble the cheese in the wine and stir until it is melted. Add the cream and stir until it is one glorious smelling sauce of cheesy creamy goodness. Turn the heat to the lowest setting and stir occasionally so the cheese doesn’t burn while you wait for the gnocchi to be ready.

When the gnocchi is ready: divide gnocchi and sauce over 2 plates, add some parmesan if your cheese-cravings cannot be satiated with just the blue, add Salt and pepper to your liking and dig in!