Gnocchi Tray Bake with Balsamic Fig Glaze

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This gnocchi tray bake is roasted with chicken apple sausage, brussels sprouts and drizzled with a balsamic fig glaze. It’ll be on your table in under 30 minutes!

Related: Stuffed & Roasted Avocados

Related: Creamy Lemon Sage Sauce Chicken

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What is a tray bake

A tray bake is an easy sheet pan meal with a variety of different vegetables, meat, and other ingredients to add flavor like citrus or nuts. It’s an easy one-pan meal that’s usually ready within 30 minutes or less.

how to make a gnocchi tray bake

This gnocchi tray bake is rich with roasted flavors and has a sweet balsamic fig glaze to to it off. It’s a simple dish made with simple ingredients, and not a ton of spices – the flavor comes from the lemon and the roasted vegetables.

Ingredients

• Meyer Lemon – sweeter than a regular lemon and add a citrusy aroma to the dish.
• Brussels sprouts – the perfect hearty vegetable for a roasted tray bake.
• Gnocchi – when baked, gnocchi has a perfectly soft and chewy inside and an ever so slight crunch on the outside.
• Chicken apple sausage – these slightly sweet sausages make for a great companion to this sheet pan meal.
• Red onion – roasted red onion is amazingly sweet. When roasted, red onion takes on a whole new flavor than raw red onion.
• Avocado oil – it’s important to use a high-smoke-point oil when you’re roasting at high temps.
• Black pepper and sea salt – use high quality sea salt versus table salt. Sea salt has beneficial nutrients whereas table salt is completely devoid of nutrients.
• Pine nuts – add a fun texture to the dish!
• Balsamic fig glaze – see below for the recipe. 2 ingredients and it’ll change your life. Trust me.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Slice and seed lemon then chop brussels and sausage.

• Toss all ingredinets in a large bowl with oil, salt and pepper until combined.

• Transfer to a large rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

• Roast for about 20 minutes until the ingredients are browned to your liking.
• While roasting, mix your balsamic glaze by whisking 1/2 cup fig jam and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar until smooth.

• Remove the sheet pan from the oven, drizzle with balsamic fig glaze and enjoy.

how to store a gnocchi sheet pan meal

To store your gnocchi tray bake, place in an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To reheat, place the leftovers on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in a 350-degree F oven for about 10 minutes (or until warmed through). You could also reheat in the microwave or a cast-iron skillet.

How to season and cook with cast iron skillets

gnocchi tray bake Tips

1. If you’re building your own tray bake (see below) rather than using my exact recipe, be sure to use ingredients that take about the same time to roast.
2. Use a high smoke-point oil for roasting. Olive oil is not a good choice for tray bakes since we are roasting at a high temperature and olive oil has a low smoke-point.
3. Dont be afraid to bake your gnocchi straight from the package! In fact, please DO NOT boil it first. Baking gnocchi makes it perfectly soft and slightly crispy on the outside.

In a pinch instructions

This recipe is already a very quick recipe, however, there are a couple of things to highlight that’ll make it super quick and easy to whip up in no time.

1. Use packaged gnocchi as the recipe calls for.
2. Omit the lemon slices and just squeeze the juice onto the mixture.

Serving Suggestions

Side dish

Serve this as a side dish by either keeping or omitting the sausage. The chicken apple sausage makes this a heartier dish but it would still be a great side dish even with them.

Main course

Use the gnocchi tray bake as an easy one-pan meal for simple weeknight dinners that pack a ton of flavor!

Potluck idea

For a simple potluck side dish, you can bring this full roasted and ready to go, or you could prep everything and bake on location if you have that luxury.

build your own tray bake

There are 5 components to a well-rounded sheet pan meal – those are protein, starch, vegetables, flavor enhancers, and sauce. See some ideas below to build your own tray bake!

Protein

• Chicken
• Chorizo
• Italian sausage
• Chicken apple sausage
• Seafood
• Meatballs
• Lamb
• Halloumi
• Eggs
• Chickpeas

Starch

• Gnocchi
• Sweet potatoes
• Red potatoes
• Yukon gold potatoes
• Croutons
• Squash
• Orzo pasta

Vegetables

• Red onion
• Yellow onion
• Tomatoes
• Brussels sprouts
• Broccoli rabe
• Broccoli florets
• Cauliflower
• Asparagus
• Red bell peppers

Flavor enhancers

• Fresh herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, basil, etc.)
• Spices and dried herbs
• Nuts (any variety)
• Lemon
• Cheese (feta, goat, parmesan, blue cheese, etc.)
• Olives
• Capers
• Sundried tomatoes

Sauce

• Browned butter
• Balsamic fig glaze (see recipe below)
• Ancho aioli
• Dill Aioli
• Horseradish Aioli
• Reduced balsamic
• Pesto
• Tzatziki
• Maple balsamic dressing

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(These affiliate links help to support this blog at no extra cost to you. Your support means the world to me!)

• Berkey water filter (we use the Royal because we drink an insane amount of water!)

• Thrive Market – 25% off & free gift! (where I get a ton of my ingredients)
• Azure Standard: $25 off your order. Code kyrieluke1
• Dutch oven
• Stand mixer
• Boos Block Butcher Block
• 12 inch Cast Iron Skillet

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