An easy and delicious gnocchi bake packed with the flavors of a veggie supreme pizza! This flexible recipe can be made with whatever ingredients you have to hand and makes for a delightfully comforting and nutritious meal.

Let’s clear out the fridge making Pizza Gnocchi!

Today I have another fridge cleaner-outer of a recipe for you, because we all need more of those in our lives! This pizza themed gnocchi bake is happy to mop up all of the scrappy vegetables and cheeses in your fridge… We have a layer of gnocchi, a layer of veggies, all slathered in pizza sauce with a crispy mozzarella topping.

If you like deep dish pizza, you will appreciate this casserole for how it somewhat replicates that combination of a thick doughy carby base + loads of thick rich sauce + mounds of gooey cheese. In this case we load it up with the kinds of toppings you would expect on the veggie supreme: mushrooms, peppers, onion, olives and feta.

You can, however, do entirely your own thing with it! No need to follow the recipe with any great precision. If you are more partial to a mushroom feast or a vegetarian pepperoni or a Greek spinach style pizza, these are all easily replicated using this as a base recipe. As ever, I have lots of tips coming your way for how to adjust this recipe if that’s something you want to do. Enjoy!

Ingredients & Substitutions

As written, the recipe assumes you are using dried packaged gnocchi. This is what it was tested with. You can use any gnocchi you like though – fresh, frozen, cauliflower or sweet potato based gnocchis are all fine. I would just recommend that if you use a different type of gnocchi, you should boil or pan fry it according to package instructions instead of baking it in the oven, and then proceed from Step 4 as written.
Using pizza sauce gives this dish its thick, rich, extra tomato-ey sauce that makes it resemble a deep dish pizza. But if normal pasta sauce is all you have, that’s fine. You could thicken it up with a little tomato paste, but you don’t have to.
Your choice of veggies will depend on what is available to you, but I am a fan of the classic veggie combo of mushrooms, peppers and onions. You are welcome to include things like eggplant or zucchini in the roasting pan. If you want to include fresh spinach, you can mix it in when you add the pizza sauce. As it bakes, it will wilt down.
The veggies are roasted in some Italian seasoning, though if you don’t have any you could just use some dried oregano and basil. You can also add garlic powder and red pepper flakes if you wish.
I use bagged pre grated mozzarella but you could use sliced fresh mozzarella if you prefer. It may take a little longer to brown.
I add some feta cheese too because I always seem to have some hanging around and it’s delicious on pizza- but it’s optional. You are welcome to add in any other cheeses you wish instead of or as well as. Blue cheese, ricotta, parmesan, provolone, whatever you like.
Black olives add a nice salty finish, and feel free to expand on your jarred ingredients with the likes of sundried tomatoes, artichokes or pepperoncini peppers.

Q. What if I have no fresh veggies?

Not a problem. Let’s brainstorm.

Skip the veggies and make this with lots of jarred ingredients like olives, sundried tomatoes and artichokes.
Frozen chopped spinach could work for a greek themed pizza, especially if you have the feta and olives to use alongside.
Canned mushrooms would work fine. No need to roast, just throw them over the cooked gnocchi and away you go.
If you are really stuck for veggies, look for a vegetarian protein instead. Something like lightly pan fried halloumi cubes or vegetarian sausage or chicken. You could even grab the lentil “sausage” recipe from this vegan rigatoni recipe.

TIP: If you aren’t roasting any fresh veggies, you can adjust the method

The recipe as written involves roasting some veggies in the oven and pre-cooking the gnocchi in the oven in a separate pan – which makes sense because the oven is already on and the cook times and temperatures align.

However, if you aren’t roasting veggies then you can pre-cook your gnocchi more quickly by boiling or pan frying, then transferring it to an oven dish and building up the casserole from there.

You should also know about…

These dinners all follow a similarly flexible approach to using up veggie scraps. Throw in what you’ve got and it should turn out pretty well!

Pizza Gnocchi Bake (Veggie Supreme!)

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 45

5 from 1 rating

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Ingredients

olive oil, for roasting
18 oz (500 g) package of dry gnocchi
1 cup (100 g) sliced mushrooms
1 small bell pepper, chopped
½ small – medium red onion, sliced
1 tsp Italian seasoning / dried herb mix
14 oz (400 g) pizza sauce
3-4 tbsp sliced black olives
½ cup (75 g) crumbled feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup (115 g) grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C / 360F.
In a 9×13 roasting dish, scatter the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil and Italian seasoning. Use a spatula to mix it all up and ensure the veggies are well coated in the oil and seasoning. Place in the oven on the top shelf and set the timer for 20 minutes.
In a smaller dish (one that is big enough for the gnocchi to be in a single layer, but not too spaced out), add the gnocchi and coat with a little olive oil. Place in the oven on the lower shelf.
Bake until the veggies are browning and softened and the gnocchi is soft and a little brown around the edges. Halfway through the baking time, give both pans a mix to flip the ingredients around and prevent sticking.
Once you're happy with how things are looking, remove both pans from the oven. Scoop the veggies over the top of the gnocchi (in the pan that the gnocchi cooked in).
Pour the sauce over the top, making sure to distribute it evenly across the pan.
Add the feta and olives on top.
Add the grated mozzarella and bake for another 20 minutes, uncovered, until bubbling and browned.
Oven position: Place it on a lower / middle shelf if you're using bagged shredded mozzarella, because that kind of cheese can brown really quickly. Place on a higher / middle shelf if you're using fresh mozzarella, which takes longer to brown.
Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then cut in and serve.