Seasonal recipe: Roast gnocchi and veg with kale pesto

We love all things food at Little Pioneers. Growing it, learning about it, cooking it and most of all – eating it. And we also love using the freshest seasonal (and local) ingredients we can get our hands on. That way we know our children are getting the best nutrition possible.

Our on-site chefs use these ingredients to whip up our tasty meals and snacks, cooked fresh each day. Each recipe is also nutritionist (and child!) approved and includes food from the four main food groups:

• Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starches
• Fruit and veg
• Milk and dairy
• Meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein

Here’s an idea for a quick mid-week dinner to make at home: roasted gnocchi with veg and kale pesto – made with delicious seasonal ingredients like asparagus, cherry tomatoes and radishes. Your child will love helping you out in the kitchen too and will take pride in creating such a tasty meal from scratch.

Ingredients:

For the gnocchi:

500g pack gnocchi

250g asparagus, washed and trimmed

100g cherry tomatoes, halved

1 ½ tbsp olive oil

120g radishes, washed, trimmed and sliced into quarters

For the kale pesto:

180g kale, washed and stems removed

30g Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped almonds

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, juiced

Ready, steady, cook!

Before you begin, set the oven to gas 7 and let it heat up. Then, boil the gnocchi according to the package directions, drain and set aside (you’ll want to be in charge of these steps first, before your child starts helping).

In a large roasting tin, mix the asparagus, cherry tomatoes, radishes and gnocchi together. Then drizzle with yummy olive oil and stir together. Carefully place the tin in the oven and roast for about 15 minutes.

While the gnocchi roasts, let’s make the pesto. Using a food processor or powerful blender, blend the kale, Parmesan, almonds, olive oil and lemon juice together until smooth. You might need to add a little water to get it to the right consistency. Add some salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the pesto in with the roasted gnocchi and enjoy your delicious (and healthy!) seasonal meal.

For more information about our food philosophies, visit our Healthy Living and Wellbeing webpage.

We've created a handy shopping list so your child can help you to find the ingredients for this recipe.  Download the shopping list.