Summer dinner recipes that are lighter and filled with delicious fresh greens are the way to our heart. We’ve previously shared our delicious pasta, spinach quinoa salad, and tips for creating a good green salad. Below, we are sharing another of our favorites, gnocchi with pesto sauce.
I have grown kids who are still picky eaters when it comes to vegetables. Two absolutely loved this, while the third did pick out the asparagus, which wasn’t surprising at all. Thankfully he actually likes spinach and peas.
Summer gnocchi with pesto sauce
Eat your greens this summer with our delicious gnocchi with pesto sauce that is filled with greens including peas, asparagus, and spinach.
Ingredients
These are the ingredients we used, however, you might like to include different greens such as beans, broccoli, spring onions, or kale.
- Gnocchi
- Diced chicken in our balsamic marinade (recipe below)
- Asparagus
- Peas
- Spinach
- Pesto
Recipe instructions
Besides the delicious greens, one of the most important parts of this recipe is our marinated chicken. We use this same marinated chicken for a lot of our meals, especially grilled chicken salad, and most other recipes that require grilled chicken.
The first step is to get the water boiling for the gnocchi because this will take the longest time. While you wait, you can marinate the chicken and then cook the asparagus.
Marinated chicken
- chicken breasts cubed
- diced onion
- minced garlic
- balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 30-minutes before cooking.
Pan-fry asparagus
To pan-fry the asparagus, heat a little olive oil in a pan, toss in minced garlic with the asparagus, and a pinch of salt. Toss occasionally for about 8-minutes until the asparagus is fork tender.
Set the asparagus aside, and add the marinated chicken to the same pan. Toss occasionally until the chicken is cooked through. Add the asparagus, spinach, peas, and pesto to the pan, turn onto a low heat until the spinach is wilted and the peas are cooked.
Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Drain the gnocchi and combine all of the ingredients together.
Once served, top with Parmesan cheese.
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A delicious gnocchi filled with greens and combined with pesto.
- 3 chicken breasts
- 2 16oz gnocchi packages
- 1 6.5oz jar of pesto
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 1 white onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
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Bring a large pot of water to the boil
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Dice the chicken, garlic, and onion. Combine the chicken, half the garlic, and the onion into a large bowl. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
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Heat olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, a pinch of salt, and asparagus. Cook for about 8 minutes until the asparagus is fork tender.
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Set the asparagus aside, and add the marinated chicken to the same pan. Stir fry until chicken is cooked through.
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Return to the asparagus to the pan along with the spinach, pesto, and peas. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat until the peas are cooked through and the spinach is wilted.
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Once the water is boiled, add the gnocchi and cook according to package directions. Strain and all of the ingredients into the pot. Stir to combine and serve immediately.
