Whenever you want dinner to be ready quickly, it’s a good idea to throw a few ingredients into a wok or a large frying pan. Something that works just as well is throwing everything into a casserole dish, sprinkle some cheese on top and bake it in the oven. That’s what happened here with this simple Cheezy Gnocchi with Chicken, Mushrooms & Broccoli. This dish is simply perfect if you don’t want to spend too long in the kitchen after work to prepare dinner. ;P
We love cooking, but when you’ve been working all day, cooking is a bit of a challenge sometimes. Nobody really wants to spend a long time in the kitchen after work to chop, cook, or bake something. Whenever hunger kicks in, everything has to go a little faster. Right?!
We like pretty much anything that can be gratinated with loads of cheese. Pasta, potatoes, mixed veggies… there are so many delicious casserole dishes you can prepare. Good thing about those dishes – they are almost all pretty easy and quickly prepared. No need for anything pre-made from the supermarket. ;P
I don’t even know why the big convenience food companies still sell so much bagged stuff. All these spice packages are not really needed to prepare something quickly. Anyone can come up with something delicious made from scratch. You certainly don’t need a spice mix with flavor enhancers from the supermarket.
If you look at those spice packets from the supermarket you can use for casserole dishes, you get some spices but most of it is actually starch to thicken a sauce… plus plenty of salt. Just because of that, we would not use those packets (we did in the past, though). Many of those spice mixes have so much salt added, you would end up eating more salt than recommended.
Of course, that’s not the only reason – we simply prefer to use fresh ingredients instead of bagged stuff. Even after work, it’s no problem to quickly chop an onion and a few mushrooms. It’s quick and easy. And you know exactly what you’re throwing into the casserole dish. You don’t need to know any weird e-numbers, no alternative names for salt and sugar, no guessing what they mean when they add »natural flavors« to the ingredients list…
We don’t want to discourage anyone from using pre-made mixes to prepare a meal at home. It’s still better than spending a lot of money on take-out food – and if you like the results that are coming out of your oven, that’s great. But it never hurts to try something different from time to time. Right?! Perhaps dishes that are prepared from scratch with simple ingredients are also fine. ;)
If you like to throw some pasta with some sauce and cheese into a casserole dish, you’re sure to enjoy our Cheesy Pasta & Ham Bake. It tastes better than anything from the supermarket and doesn’t take much longer than the stuff made with a pre-made spice mix. Really! ;)
What about something with gnocchi? Our Chorizo & Gnocchi Pan is easy to prepare and extremely delicious. Everything made with Chorizo is simply awesome! Richg?! ;P
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(4-5 servings)
some olive oil for frying
1 small broccoli, cut into florets
10.6 oz. (300g) chicken breast, diced
9 oz. (250g) brown mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, finely diced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/3 cup (80ml) dry white wine
1 cup (250ml) veggie broth
7 oz. (200g) sour cream
4.4 oz. (125g) cream cheese
17.6 oz. (500g) gnocchi (refrigerated)
7 oz. (200g) mozzarella, grated
salt, pepper
(4-5 Personen)
etwas Olivenöl zum Anbraten
1 kleiner Brokkoli, in Röschen geteilt
300g Hähnchenbrust, in Würfeln
250g braune Champignons, in Scheiben
1 große Zwiebel, fein gewürfelt
1 TL Thymian
80ml trockener Weißwein
250ml Gemüsebrühe
200g Schmand
125g Frischkäse (Doppelrahmstufe)
500g Gnocchi (Kühltheke)
200g Mozzarella, gerieben
Salz, Pfeffer
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Cut the broccoli into small florets. Bring a large pot with salted water to a boil and blanch the broccoli for about 3-4 minutes. You want the broccoli to still have a bite. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. Clean the chicken breast and cut it into bite-size pieces. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into slices. Peel the onion and dice finely. Keep all other ingredients ready for cooking.
3. Heat up a Dutch oven or large frying pan and add some oil. Fry the chicken breast cubes for about 4-5 minutes until nicely browned all over. Remove and set aside on a plate. If needed, add a bit more oil, then add the sliced mushrooms and cook/fry them for about 3-4 minutes until they have lost a lot of their volume. Next, add the onions and let them cook/fry with the mushrooms for another 3-5 minutes – both, mushrooms and onions should be nicely browned. Add the thyme and stir in.
4. Deglaze the mushrooms and onions with the white wine. Allow the wine to cook down almost completely, then add the veggie stock, sour cream, and cream cheese. Mix until well combined. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven/frying pan, reduce the heat a bit and let everything simmer for about 4-5 minutes so the sauce can thicken a bit.
5. While the sauce is simmering, heat an additional frying pan with some oil and sir-fry the gnocchi for a few minutes until they got brown spots here and there.
6. Add about half of the grated mozzarella to the sauce, and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Add the gnocchi and blanched broccoli and mix well. If you use kitchenware that can go into an oven, just sprinkle the remaining cheese on top – otherwise transfer veggies, chicken, and sauce to a large casserole dish and then add the cheese. Bake the gnocchi in the oven (using the grilling option of the oven) for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and gotten some color. This took about 10 minutes in my (lame ass) oven – other, more powerful ovens can probably do this in 5 minutes. Enjoy! ;)
1. Den Brokkoli in Röschen aufteilen und dann in einem Topf mit Salzwasser für etwa 3-4 Minuten blanchieren. Abgießen und kurz mit kaltem Wasser abbrausen, dann zur Seite stellen und abtropfen lassen.
2. Die Hähnchenbrust säubern und in kleine Würfel schneiden. Champignons säubern und in Scheiben schneiden. Die Zwiebel schälen und fein würfeln. Alles zur Seite stellen.
3. Einen großen Topf oder eine große Pfanne mit etwas Öl erhitzen. Die Hähnchenbrustwürfel für etwa 4-5 Minuten anbraten, bis sie rundum Farbe bekommen haben, dann herausnehmen und zur Seite stellen. Falls notwendig noch etwas Öl nachlegen und dann die Champignons in den Topf bzw. die Pfanne geben und für etwa 3-4 Minuten anbraten, bis sie ordentlich an Volumen verloren haben. Die Zwiebeln dazugeben und mit den Champignons weitere 3-5 Minuten anbraten – Champignons und Zwiebeln sollten schön gebräunt sein. Thymian dazugeben und unterrühren.
4. Die gebräunten Champignons und Zwiebeln mit dem Weißwein ablöschen. Den Wein fast komplett einkochen lassen, dann Gemüsebrühe, Schmand und Frischkäse dazugeben – alles gut vermengen. Die Hähnchenstücke zurück in den Topf/die Pfanne geben, die Hitzezufuhr etwas reduzieren und alles für 4-5 Minuten köcheln lassen, damit die Soße etwas andicken kann.
5. Während die Soße köchelt, eine Pfanne mit etwas Öl erhitzen und die Gnocchi einige Minuten anbraten, bis sie hier und da etwas Farbe bekommen haben.
6. Etwa die Hälfte vom Mozzarella in die Soße einrühren und nach Belieben mit Salz und Pfeffer würzen. Die angebratenen Gnocchi und den blanchierten Brokkoli zum Topf bzw. zur Pfanne dazugeben und alles gut vermengen. Wenn der Topf oder die Pfanne in den Ofen darf, dann einfach den verbliebenen Käse über alles drüberstreuen. Wer kein ofenfestes Kochgeschirr hat, füllt einfach alles in eine Auflaufform und streut dann den Käse darüber. Die Gnocchi im Ofen (mit Grillfunktion) für einige Minuten überbacken, bis der Käse zerlaufen ist und etwas Farbe bekommen hat. Bei mir hat das etwa 10 Minuten gedauert – andere Öfen schaffen das vermutlich in 5 Minuten. Guten Hunger! ;)
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Cheezy Gnocchi with Chicken, Mushrooms & Broccoli
- Prep Time: 00:15
- Cook Time: 00:30
- Total Time: 00:55
- Yield: 5 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: International
Description
This Cheezy Gnocchi with Chicken, Mushrooms & Broccoli is a great weeknight dinner dish. We love everything with a thick cheesy crust! ;P
Ingredients
some olive oil for frying
1 small broccoli, cut into florets
10.6 oz. (300g) chicken breast, diced
9 oz. (250g) brown mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, finely diced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/3 cup (80ml) dry white wine
1 cup (250ml) veggie broth
7 oz. (200g) sour cream
4.4 oz. (125g) cream cheese
17.6 oz. (500g) gnocchi (refrigerated)
7 oz. (200g) mozzarella, grated
salt, pepper
Instructions
1. Cut the broccoli into small florets. Bring a large pot with salted water to a boil and blanch the broccoli for about 3-4 minutes. You want the broccoli to still have a bite. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. Clean the chicken breast and cut it into bite-size pieces. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into slices. Peel the onion and dice finely. Keep all other ingredients ready for cooking.
3. Heat up a Dutch oven or large frying pan and add some oil. Fry the chicken breast cubes for about 4-5 minutes until nicely browned all over. Remove and set aside on a plate. If needed, add a bit more oil, then add the sliced mushrooms and cook/fry them for about 3-4 minutes until they have lost a lot of their volume. Next, add the onions and let them cook/fry with the mushrooms for another 3-5 minutes – both, mushrooms and onions should be nicely browned. Add the thyme and stir in.
4. Deglaze the mushrooms and onions with the white wine. Allow the wine to cook down almost completely, then add the veggie stock, sour cream, and cream cheese. Mix until well combined. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven/frying pan, reduce the heat a bit and let everything simmer for about 4-5 minutes so the sauce can thicken a bit.
5. While the sauce is simmering, heat an additional frying pan with some oil and sir-fry the gnocchi for a few minutes until they got brown spots here and there.
6. Add about half of the grated mozzarella to the sauce, and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Add the gnocchi and blanched broccoli and mix well. If you use kitchenware that can go into an oven, just sprinkle the remaining cheese on top – otherwise transfer veggies, chicken, and sauce to a large casserole dish and then add the cheese. Bake the gnocchi in the oven (using the grilling option of the oven) for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and gotten some color. This took about 10 minutes in my (lame ass) oven – other, more powerful ovens can probably do this in 5 minutes. Enjoy! ;)
Notes
Get your bake on!
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
