Italian Grill with Gnocchi

The weather was absolutely perfect, and I wanted to make the entire meal outside. I had planned some grilled Italian sausage with peppers and onions. I needed something to go with it, and we bought this new grill with one of those side burners, so pasta was not off the table! 

Normally, I would serve sausage with peppers and onions with a crusty roll, so the closest thing we had was gnocchi. I started a pot to boil on the burner, and got to cooking!

Italian Sausage Grill with Gnocchi

1 pound Italian sausage
1 each red, yellow and green pepper, sliced thinly
1 large sweet onion, sliced thinly
1 pound prepared fresh gnocchi
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)

To prepare for grilling:
Place the peppers and onions in a foil packet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter, and bring outside (this is for the gnocchi after it is cooked).

Preheat your grill on high, and start your side burner. Of course you can cook your gnocchi inside, but you will probably need a tag team! Place onion and pepper packet on grill first, and turn every 2-3 minutes for about 10 minutes. Then place sausages on the grill, and move the foil packet to the upper rack. When the water for your gnocchi, begins to boil, add the gnocchi, and cook for 7-8 minutes, until tender. Drain gnocchi and toss in the bowl with the garlic, olive oil and butter. Remove cooked sausages, and onions and peppers from the grill.

Assemble your dish with the gnocchi on the bottom, top with onions and peppers, then slice sausage and spread over the top. You can add parmesan cheese at this point if you like.