Loaded Baked Potato Gnocchi

First of all, thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my last post! You guys are just the best. It's been so much fun sharing recipes with you and getting to know so many of you over the past four-and-a-half years. I have no intentions of stopping now, so get ready for the next thousand recipes! :)

My family loves gnocchi. We have a go-to recipe that I make often and that we all absolutely love, but every once in a while I get the itch to do something different. Recently that itch led me to combine gnocchi with bacon, cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar and broccoli to make a meal reminiscent of a loaded baked potato. And it was very, very good. It was fantastic, actually. It was a creamy, cheesy delight. The next time you're looking for something different to do with gnocchi, I highly, highly recommend you give this recipe a try!

Loaded Baked Potato Gnocchi

2 packages vaccuum-packed gnocchi (about 16 ounces each)

10 strips of bacon, diced

2 tablespoons butter

4 green onions, thinly sliced

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

2 cups chopped broccoli, steamed

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Cook gnocchi in boiling salted water according to package directions; drain.

2. While the gnocchi is cooking, cook the bacon over medium heat in a large skillet until crispy. Remove to paper towels to drain and discard most of the bacon drippings.

3. Over medium heat, add the butter to the same skillet and let it melt. Add the green onions and saute until they're just softened, a couple of minutes. Stir in cream cheese and sour cream until the cream cheese is fully incorporated and the mixture is bubbling. Stir in 1 cup of the cheddar cheese and let it melt. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a little bit of milk. Once the sauce has reached the desired consistency, taste for seasonsing and add half of the bacon, the broccoli, and the gnocchi and stir to combine.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with remaining cup of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbling. Sprinkle each serving with the reserved bacon.