As we cook day in day out for our families, we often are trapped in the same ‘go-to’ meals that are quick and easy to prepare. And frankly, there is nothing wrong with our family favourites that are quick and easy to prepare – because you can whip them out in less then 30 minutes and they get eaten. Nothing worse then putting a whole heap of effort into food that ends up in the bin.
But some days I like to go above and beyond and increase the cooking skills that I have down pat. I really enjoyed learning how to make dumplings with my mum earlier in the year and when I created this recipe I thought – TODAY IS THE DAY I WLL CONCUR GNOCCHI.
Now, I have made gnocchi before – but the ricotta kind which is super quick and easy – you can find my recipe here. This gnocchi is more ‘tradditional’ and requires baking the potatoes before making your mixture and then rolling it all out and boiling it up.
I’m not ashamed to admit that this was a lot of work and quiet the task with a 15 month old under foot. But I completed the task and I concurred gnocchi and it was DELICIOUS!
RAGU WITH GOAT’S CHEESE GNOCCHI
700 grams of potatoes
200 grams of goat’s cheese
2 eggs
1 cup of plain flour (extra flour will be needed to roll out the gnocchi)
salt and pepper
3 pieces of osso bucco
2 carrots
2 red onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of oregano
2 cups of beef stock
1 jar of passata
200 grams of mixed olives
100 grams of goat’s cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper
Place the potatoes on a baking tray with their skin on and roast at 180 degrees for 1 hour. Remove and allow to cook slightly.
Whilst the potatoes are in the oven, brown off your osso bucco in a little olive oil in a oven-proof dish. Add the carrots, onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper and allow to soften.
Add half the oregano, beef stock and passata. Mix and then transfer to the oven (I had mine in the oven for about 2 hours whilst I completed the gnocchi – if yours is in longer you may need to check and add more beef stock or water if the sauce is drying out).
To make the gnocchi, scoop the potato out of the skins and mix with the goat’s cheese, eggs, flour and seasoning until it forms a dough. Transfer onto a floured surface and roll out into a snake which you can then cut into pieces to form the gnocchi.
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi in batches – once they rise to the surface remove them as they are cooked.
To serve, place the gnocchi in a bowl (easier to eat from), mix the olives through the ragu and then spoon over your gnocchi and top with extra oregano and goat’s cheese.
