Grilled Chicken and Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Basil and Tomatoes

It’s official. This is my very first post of something I made in the month of April, in the year 2012. No more recipes from past cooking experiences, no more poorly taken photographs. Those first few posts will be affectionately referred to as my “practice” posts moving forward.

I’m so proud of this very first post (I’m serious, just ask my family who watched me giddily prepare and photograph the experience from the very beginning all the way until I took my first bite). And what a first “official” recipe it is. It’s Gnocchi (yum!) with goat cheese, fresh roma tomatoes, grilled chicken and topped with fresh basil. Did I say yum? YUM!

There is nothing better on earth than carbs and cheese, except for maybe a good glass of red wine. They are, unfortunately, my two favorite things in the whole entire world. So it’s fitting that this first “real” post is one that embodies my two favorite things. I will admit, that I didn’t have the courage to muster making gnocchi from scratch (I’ll save that for a later date J).

This gnocchi is light (as light as gnocchi can be) and is mixed with grilled chicken, fresh tomatoes, basil, goat cheese and just a touch of lemon juice. It’s delicious and I dare you not to love it just as much as I did.

Oh, and if you like, I encourage you to pair it with a nice glass of wine, just like I did!

Grilled Chicken and Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Basil and Tomatoes

1 Package Gnocchi
2-3 Large Chicken Breasts

2-3 cloves of garlic

3 Roma Tomatoes

Fresh Basil

Salt and Pepper

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

8 oz Chevre Goat Cheese

Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan. Pat chicken breasts dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add garlic to the olive oil in the pan and place chicken breasts in. Brown chicken breasts (4-5 minutes each side). Transfer to a baking sheet and bake chicken for 25 minutes.

While your chicken is cooking, boil water and cook gnocchi according to the packaged instructions. Slice tomatoes and basil and set aside. In the bottom of your serving dish, place goat cheese, about ½ c of the pasta water, olive oil and about 2 Tsp of fresh lemon juice. Whisk together.

Remove chicken from the oven and tear or cut into strips. Mix pasta, chicken, tomatoes and basil together in the serving dish with the goat cheese mixture. Mix well and serve!