This roasted red pepper gnocchi combines sweet peppers, fragrant basil and pantry staples. We stir the flavorful creamy sauce through soft pillowy gnocchi for a cozy plant-based comfort food dinner in all easy recipe steps!
As a low histamine cook, I use roasted red peppers a lot as a swap for tomatoes. They're full of flavor, have a nice sweetness, and are a family favorite in my red pepper pasta. So I've wanted to make a red pepper gnocchi recipe for a long time!
This sauce combines the roasted red peppers with zucchini to get some extra veggies, fresh basil leaves for their fragrant flavor and some low histamine herbs and spices. I did a little happy dance around the kitchen when I perfected this sauce!
Love a gnocchi recipe? Have a peek at my popular gnocchi with ricotta sauce and creamy pesto gnocchi for another time!
Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Gnocchi - if store-bought gnocchi works for you, then perfect. If not, there are tons of homemade gnocchi recipes online, including this gnocchi recipe and others made without eggs.
- Sweet peppers - I suggest to use pointed red peppers if you can, as they have a lovely flavor. But regular sweet red bell peppers work well too.
- Zucchini - to add some hidden veggies in the gnocchi sauce!
- Fresh basil - I do suggest to use fresh basil leaves if you can, as they give the sauce a nice flavor.
- Sweet paprika - this scores 0 on the SIGHI list for histamine, so be careful not to use hot or smoked unless it works for you and you want a spicier flavor!
How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Gnocchi
Making this red pepper gnocchi is very simple, with just a few steps of roasting the veggies, blending the sauce and cooking up your gnocchi.
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Roast the veggies
Cut the peppers lengthways, removing the white membrane and seeds. Dice the zucchini into rounds. Place on a lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over about two-thirds of the thyme and sweet paprika and a pinch of salt. Toss to coat and bake until tender (image 1).
Step 2: Peel the peppers
Place the peppers in a bowl, then cover. Leave for about 10 minutes, then once cool enough to handle, peel the skins from them and discard (image 2).
Step 3: Cook onion and garlic
Drizzle olive oil in your skillet and cook the diced onion until softened. Add the garlic and remaining spices, and cook for a further minute or so (image 3).
Step 4: Blend the red pepper sauce
Add the peeled roasted peppers, zucchini, onion mix, fresh basil leaves and plant milk to your blender cup. Blend to a thick creamy sauce (image 4).
Step 5: Cook the gnocchi
Cook the gnocchi in salted water to package instructions, reserving about half a cup of the cooking water. Drain the gnocchi (image 5).
Step 6: Stir the sauce through gnocchi
Tip the gnocchi into your skillet and pour on the roasted pepper sauce. Stir, and gradually add spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water until your get a sauce that coats the gnocchi to the consistency you like. Season with salt and black pepper, if using, to serve (image 6).
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Gnocchi is typically cooked when it floats to the surface of your cooking pot.
- Make sure to reserve the cooking water! The starchy water helps bring the sauce together so that it is silky and smooth.
- If you prefer less sauce, and have leftover sauce, you can freeze it for another meal. I've made extra sauce and done this before!
Frequently Asked Questions
Some mini mozzarella balls to serve with the gnocchi would be delicious!
It is optional, but I suggest to peel off any darker charred spots on the skin. Peeling the peppers will give you a smoother sauce.
If you are going to freeze the recipe, I suggest to make and freeze the sauce in suitable containers and then cook the gnocchi from fresh when making the meal.
You can use a jar of roasted peppers to make the sauce, but I do think roasting your own means more flavor! Using a jar may not be suitable for low histamine readers.
More Gnocchi Recipes
Find lots of tasty comfort food dinner ideas on my pasta recipes page, including my pasta sauces without tomatoes round-up and these gnocchi recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you, so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Roasted Red Pepper Gnocchi
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 sweet red peppers I use pointed peppers
- 1 small zucchini
- 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ small onion
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
- 3 tablespoon plant milk of choice
- 4 cups gnocchi
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the stems, seeds and membrane from the peppers and dice into 3-4 pieces. Dice the zucchini into rounds. Place both on a linked baking sheet in an even layer. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle over about two thirds of the dried thyme and sweet paprika and a pinch of salt. Toss the veggies to coat. Roast for 20-25 minutes at 390F / 200C, until softened.
- Once the peppers are cooked, transfer to a bowl and cover with a plate or foil. Leave for 10-15 minutes, then when cool enough to handle, peel the skins from the peppers.
- Drizzle olive oil in your skillet and cook the diced onion for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add in the minced garlic and remaining thyme and sweet paprika. Sitr well and cook for a minute or so.
- Place the cooked peppers, zucchini, fresh basil leaves, onion and garlic mix and plant milk into a blender cup. Blend to a thick sauce.
- Cook the gnocchi to package instructions in lightly salted water. Reserve half a cup of the cooking water, then drain in a colander.
- Tip the gnocchi into your skillet and pour on the red pepper sauce. Stir, then add spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water. Keep stirring and adding more water until the sauce coats the gnocchi and is a consistency you like. Season with salt and black pepper, if using. Spoon into your serving bowls.
Notes
- I suggest to use the sweet red pointed peppers for this recipe as they have a nice sweetness. Regular red peppers can also be used.
- Low histamine readers may wish to use white onion, which score 0 on the SIGHI list.
- Don't forget to reserve some of the cooking water as the starch helps bring the sauce together so it coats the gnocchi.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- onion and garlic, which score 1. White onion can be used as a swap.
- plant milks have different scores, so it's best to use the type that works best for you.
- black pepper, which scores 2. It is optional.
- gnocchi isn't mentioned and will depend upon ingredients used. Homemade gnocchi may work better for some.
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