Lu-easy meals | Gnocchi, Leek & Avocado Vegan Bake (GF) #LoveMyLeeks

For a while now I’ve wanted to post some of my easy home cooked meal creations. For my first attempt I made a dreamy, cheesy, gnocchi & leek bake, but to scare myself I decided to make it vegan, and gluten free too! After visiting Vegfest (check out my blog about it) earlier this year, I decided I would try Veganuary, with the aim to continue vegan life after January, but that’s a whooole other blog post… SO, here goes…!

Gnocchi, Leek, Avocado Vegan & Gluten Free Bake

First things first, to make this bake, you will need:

INGREDIENTS:

• Leeks, trimmed & sliced (4)
• Avocados, cut up and blended (2)
• Bag of fresh Spinach
• Garlic cloves, crushed (2)
• Cherry Tomatoes, chopped into quarters (7)
• Bionita Gluten Free Tomato Gnocchi (1 packet)
•  Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Shreds (half the bag)
• Chives, chopped (small handful)
• Optima Raw Virgin Coconut Oil (half a tablespoon)
• The Living Food Kitchen Raw Hemp Seed Pesto (2-ish tablespoons)
• Seasoning (black pepper/salt)

NB. I have linked to the websites of the brands mentioned, however you do not have to use these brands, this is just how I did it 🙂

Ingredients to make my Gnocchi, Leek, Avocado Vegan & Gluten Free Bake

HOW I MADE IT (6 easy steps!)

1. I started by cooking the Leeks and crushed Garlic Cloves slowly on a low heat until they were nice and squishy (being careful not to overcook) before putting them to one side

2. I then cooked the gnocchi (most gnocchi doesn’t take more than a few minutes to cook, which is part of the reason I love it so much) and strained.

3. Next, I added the gnocchi, chopped cherry tomatoes, and blended avocado (which created a beautiful thick creamy sauce), and some seasoning to the saucepan with the leek and garlic, before mixing all together.

Steps 1-3: Gnocchi, Leek, Avocado Vegan & Gluten Free Bake

4. Once all the ingredients were nicely stirred up, I placed the gnocchi & leek mixture on top of a couple of layers of spinach leaves (which wilted in the heat and moisture under the grill) in the oven proof dish.

5. The next step is to make the top of the bake look a little bit fancy. So, first I covered with the shredded vegan Mozzarella, followed by some neatly placed chopped cherry tomatoes, a sprinkling of chives and a little drizzle of hemp pesto.

6. And finally, I put the dish under the grill until the leek/tomato was crispy and the cheese had melted.

Steps 4-6: Gnocchi, Leek, Avocado Vegan & Gluten Free Bake

And there you have it, a completely made up recipe which is a little unusual (just like me) featuring some of my favourite foods, and not using any animal products 🙂

After admiring my weird and wonderful creation (that smelt absolutely heavenly) I tucked in, and it didn’t disappoint – surprisingly creamy & cheesy for an entirely Vegan dish (yay!), and I’m quite excited about Veganuary now!

Serving Suggestion: Gnocchi, Leek, Avocado Vegan & Gluten Free Bake

If we’re connected on other social networks (check my links on the right hand side of the page), you’ll know I am a BIG fan of creating Vegetarian dishes with random bits and bobs I fancy and people often ask me for recipe advice, so I thought this blog would be the perfect place for those recipes.

Hope you enjoyed the first installment of ‘Lu-easy Meals’ – Let me know in the comments if there is anything you think I should try!

Bai for now,

Lx