Obviously, I love to cook, and even when I was still teaching in the classroom, there were still many nights that I would devote a fair amount of time to creating a nice dinner. But I know that’s not possible for everyone, and even now, being retired, there are still days when we feel a time crunch and so something easier is in order.

Also, because I love to cook, the algorithms push tons of cooking-related content my way. I recently saw someone take on a challenge to make dinner in 10 minutes. Well, it turned out that really just meant 10 minutes to get something into the oven, and she did: chicken pieces (already cut from the butcher) and potatoes and vegetables, quickly and roughly cut, all on a sheet pan with olive oil and various seasonings on top. It looked great, and yet, to be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed. Getting a bunch of stuff onto a sheet pan and into the oven is quick and easy!

There are numerous recipes for sausages roasted with grapes. I do love how fennel mellows as it roasts, so combining that onto one sheet pan and adding gnocchi makes for an easy prep, one sheet pan dinner. If you don’t like fennel, any number of other vegetables would work here, such as Brussels sprouts or slices of winter squash. Or give fennel another try! For many years, I didn’t like fennel at all, and now I love it, which shows me that a person’s tastes can continue to change. You might still not like something, but it’s worth giving it a try!

Regular readers may notice that, while I frequently line sheet pans with heavy-duty foil for easy clean-up, I decided not to do so here because I feel foil inhibits browning. But, truly, if you need for clean-up to be super fast and easy, it will be just fine if you decide to line the sheet pan.

SHEET PAN GNOCCHI DINNER

Serves 2-3; if doubling, use two half-sheet pans

INGREDIENTS

2-3 sausages, preferably Italian, sweet or hot, pork or turkey or chicken

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, 1½-2 pounds

1 package refrigerated or shelf-stable gnocchi (package sizes range from 12 to almost 18 ounces)

1 medium onion sliced into thin half-moons

8 ounces seedless grapes

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Few grinds pepper

1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving if desired

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 F. Poke each sausage about 6-8 times with a fork and place on a half-sheet pan. (See above regarding whether to line the pan with heavy-duty foil or not.)

Trim any fronds off the top of the fennel bulb and discard. Cut off the stems and, if desired, cut lengthwise into sticks. Cut the fennel bulb down the middle along the longer axis (if the fennel bulb is more oval). Place each half cut side down on the cutting board, and make ¼-inch slices from one side to the other. Remove the core from some of the slices where needed and separate the layers into strips. If any pieces seem too wide, cut in half. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add the gnocchi, onion slices, grapes, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes, if using. Pour the olive oil over all and mix to combine.

Tip everything in the bowl out onto the sheet pan. Spread everything around to be in an even layer as much as possible, but don’t get too fussy about it. If it seems to need more oil, especially if the package of gnocchi is on the larger end of the range, drizzle another tablespoon of oil over all.

Place the pan in oven and roast for 20-30 minutes until you begin to see some browning on the edges of the vegetables. Drizzle the cream and sprinkle the Parmesan over everything. Return for the oven for 5 more minutes. Serve with extra Parmesan, if desired.

Elizabeth Baer is a retired Latin teacher who loves to spend time in the kitchen. She also posts recipes and musings about food on her blog, culinursa.com/blog and can be reached at culinursa@gmail.com.