Gnocchi & Sausage Bake

I absolutely love gnocchi and once I found out how easy it was to make I haven’t really stopped. This being said, I've based this recipe on a shop bought gnocchi as I'm sure as a mid week meal no one wants to/has an extra 30 minutes to spare in the kitchen to be making their own pasta... However, as a veggie I’m often lost for what to serve on the side, so decided to experiment with a gnocchi & sausage pasta bake. 

Serves 4:

You will need: 

500g shop bought fresh gnocchi
125g plain cashews
400g chopped tomatoes or passata
1/2 red onion
3 cloves garlic
Oil for frying
2 tbsps. nutritional yeast
1 tsps. liquid seasoning
2 tsps. mixed herbs
1 tsp. smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
4 veggie sausages (fresh or frozen)
As much cheese as desired to grate on top.

1. Place your cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. The longer they soak, the easier it is for them to blend into a creamy sauce.
2. Pre-heat your oven to whichever temperature your sausages require cooking. I used Birds Eye Green Cuisine vegan range.
3. Dice your onion and mince your garlic.
4. Once your oven is pre heated, place in your sausages.
5. In a large saucepan heat up your cooking oil and then place in your chopped onions and garlic to cook down for 10 minutes, along with your seasonings and nutritional yeast.
6. Place your soaked cashews and their water, cooked onion and garlic and 400g chopped tomatoes in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Be sure that there are no cashew chunks remaining!
7. Transfer your sauce back into your saucepan and stir in the gnocchi, then stir on a low heat.
8. At this point your sausages should be cooked, depending on their cooking instructions. Remove from the oven and chop into chunks.
9. Add your sausages to your sauce and stir.
10. Place your mixture in a heat proof dish and grate desired amount of cheese on top. I used Asda's new vegan Applewood smoked cheese (highly recommend!).
11. Place your dish into the middle shelf of your oven for approx. 15 minutes until crispy on gas mark 6/200 degrees Celsius.