Cheesy Gnocchi Casserole

This is going to be a super quick post on a random dinner I threw together tonight after being inspired by THIS recipe on Food Network.

My recipe turned out nothing like Food Network intended. The Home with Mandy version is full of veggies, thick ham, soft gnocchi, all swimming in a creamy cheesy sauce. Yes, this is MUCH better!

I started by sautéing a thick cut boneless ham steak in a deep pan until it was blackened. Then removed to a cutting board while I made the leftover ham drippings sing!

Next I added some garlic herb butter (left over from another meal) and sautéed fresh thyme, diced onion, carrot and celery until soft (5 minutes).

Meanwhile I boiled some store bought gnocchi. I highly recommend making this yourself, see my step by step here.  This cooks in about two minutes in salted boiling water.

To the soft veggies, I sprinkled with a handful of flour and then added chicken stock, milk and some heavy cream. Then I grated a cup each of gruyere and fontina cheese and threw that in. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. You never know when you are working with chicken stock and cheese, just how salty your food will be.  The last thing I added was a cup of frozen green peas.

I diced the ham, and added that to my creamy cheese sauce along with the cooked gnocchi. This was poured in a casserole dish and placed under the broiler where the top got a little brown and bubbly.

The end.

:-)