Gnocchi Ingredients
- 500g good quality Ricotta
- 400g Plain flour
- 20g Parmesan
- pinch nutmeg
- 15g salt
- Extra flour for rolling
Rib Ragu Ingredients
- 1kg Dandaragan Organic Beef ribs
- 1T tomato paste
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 30ml Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 10 shallots or small pickling onions, peeled and halved
- 300ml beef or chicken stock
- 100g cold butter (diced)
- 50g chopped parsley
Method
Gnocchi is undoubtably a crowd favourite, and not as hard to accomplish as one might think. This recipe uses ricotta in place of traditional potato, which is more forgiving to work with and results in a beautiful soft, pillowy texture. The Dandaragan Organic Beef rib ragu takes some time, but is well worth the wait. The slow cooking renders the ribs juicy, full of flavour and completely delicious. This dish really is comfort in a bowl, perfect for a dinner on a cool winter evening. Serves 4.
BRAISED RIB RAGU
Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius.
In a large bowl, place the tomato paste, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and combine well. Add the beef ribs and gently coat.
Take a lined baking tray and spread the ribs into a single layer. Add the shallots or pickling onions to the tray, along with 250ml of water. Cover tightly with foil.
Place the tray into the oven, and allow the ribs to cook for 4-5 hours, until the meat falls off the bone easily.
Once it has cooled slightly, separate the meat from the bones and set aside in a bowl with the roasted onions.
To make the sauce, place the beef stock into a large pan, and bring to the boil. Add the braised rib meat and onions to the pan, along with the cold butter. Allow everything to reduce together, for at least 15 minutes, until you have a velvety consistency. Add the chopped parsley, and finally the blanched gnocchi.
Combine together in the pan until the sauce coats the gnocchi nicely.
Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
GNOCCHI
Place the ricotta, flour, parmesan, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Gently combine until you have a smooth dough. If the mix is sticking a little, you may need to sprinkle in a little more flour. Cover in glad wrap and set aside in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.
Lightly dust a large wooden board with flour, and place the rested dough to one side. Cut into 4 even pieces and roll each one into a long thin sausage, approximately 2cm thick. Continue to dust with flour as you roll, but take care to only add what you need to stop it sticking to the board (or your hands!)
Take a sharp knife, and cut the rolled dough into 3cm pieces. Move the little finished gnocchi off to one side as you work, so that they don’t get in the way of the cutting.
To finish the cooking process, take a large pot of boiling, salted water and carfeully drop in the gnocchi. Stir gently with a large spoon or ladle, taking care to not let them stick to the bottom of the pot.
Once the gnocchi have floated up to the surface, strain through a large colander and add to your finished sauce!
