I had a few packets of ready-made gnocchi in the pantry and decided to drench in them in this sauce, stud the whole thing with chunks of mozzarella and give it a quick go under the grill for the cheese to get all golden and gooey. The end result was this pretty awesome gnocchi bake which had all the flavours of summer with just the right amount of comfort I was craving.

Ingredients

for the tomato and basil sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used a basil-flavoured one)
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 large, ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
½ cup tomato passata
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
salt & pepper to taste
small handful fresh basil leaves, roughly torn

For the gnocchi bake
1kg ready-made gnocchi , boiled in salted water until cooked then drained
100g mozzarella, cubed
fresh basil leaves