Call For Recipes: Gnocchi with Spinach and Tomato Sauce

Elspeth Naismith -
Editor's Note: It was two years ago when TILife’s copy editor, Elspeth Naismith, presented "Call for Recipes!" The article showed a tea towel that proudly hangs in her kitchen and provides the ingredients for a "Traditional 1000 Islands Shore Dinner," written by the late Les Cook, a renowned Canadian fishing guide. Elspeth suggested that our River communities have many farmers, restaurants, storekeepers, and, yes, both year-round and summer residents who have favourite recipes with special River meanings. Since then, we have published some fantastic culinary suggestions! This one is from Elspeth!
Illustration by Marie-Anne Erki, Kingston, ON ©2026

Gnocchi with Spinach and Tomato Sauce

Recipe developed “on the hoof” in October 2023

Serves: 2
Time: as long as it takes?

The genesis of this recipe was a partial package of shelf-stable gnocchi and a bunch of leftovers that included spinach, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and bacon grease. It’s one of those “use what you’ve got” recipes. In step 1, you aren’t cooking or browning the garlic, you just want it to start flavouring the oil. Serve the gnocchi with a green salad or whatever other veggies are languishing in your fridge that need to be used up! If you want a bit of “zing” then you can always toss in some red pepper flakes or hot sauce in step 3.

Ingredients:

• 250 g gnocchi (about ½ package of shelf stable gnocchi)
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 – 3 Tbsp oil or bacon fat (or a mix or butter or whatever you’ve got handy)
• 6 oz spinach (or however much you have)
• 1 – 2 cups tomato sauce (or passata or whatever tomatoes you have handy)
• 1 – 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced

Instructions:

  1. Over medium high, melt 2 Tbsp oil/bacon fat in a large skillet with the sliced garlic; when pan and oil are hot, remove the garlic and set it aside. Add the spinach, stir and cook until the spinach wilts, about 3 – 5 mins. Remove pan from the heat and transfer spinach to a bowl.
  2. In the same pan, add last Tbsp fat/oil and heat on medium. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until fragrant and the shallot is lightly browned – don’t let the garlic burn! Add tomato paste to the centre of pan and let it brown.
  3. Once shallot and tomato paste are browned, add tomato sauce, blend together, and cook on medium until reduced by about half, or the sauce is your desired consistency.
  4. While sauce is cooking, bring 1 – 2 qts water to a boil. Add salt and gnocchi to the boiling water and cook until gnocchi float to the surface, about 3 minutes. Scoop out, drain, and add to the sauce. Return spinach to the pan, add gnocchi, and cook just until it’s all heated through.

By Elspeth Naismith

Elspeth Naismith grew up in Gananoque, graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton (B.Sc (Bio)), and then from Centennial College as an RN. She also joined the Naval Reserve (thanks to a high school chum), and after spending time on both east and west coasts, she took a break from nursing and accepted a 3-year posting to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. The "break" turned into 25 years, and included jaunts to East Germany, Wales and the Irish Sea, and Bosnia. She retired from the Navy in 2011 and moved back to Gananoque in 2013. Today Elspeth not only leaves her mark on all TI Life articles, as she is the "Real Editor," "Comma Queen," and "overall lifesaver," but she is also an official recipe tester for America's Test Kitchen.

Illustration by Marie-Ann Erki

Marie-Anne Erki is a Kingston artist and emeritus professor of civil engineering at the Royal Military College. Marie-Anne initially considered a career in architecture, but her love of mathematics led her to become a structural engineer. She says, "At a time before computer assisted drawing (CAD), both disciplines required a huge amount of freehand and mechanical drawing. After a quarter of a century of great fun as a structural engineer, I decided to pursue painting full time." We at TI Life are fortunate that Marie-Anne has agreed to be our Official Illustrator, and you will find her work in many of our articles. You can also see her works at marieanneerkipaintings.blogspot.com/