How cute am I? One Saturday night, I decided I was going to cook dinner for bf-B and I. I have always wanted to make ricotta gnocchi, being a huge fan of the potato variety, and to be honest, I may have wanted to impress bf-B a little..
SPINACH AND RICOTTA GNOCCHI
450g ricotta cheese
150g baby spinach
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (about) all purpose flour
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
- Wrap ricotta in a tea towl and suspend in a sieve over a bowl. Weigh down with a weight and leave overnight to allow excess moisture to seep out.
- In a dry pan, cook spinach until wilted and liquid has evaporated (about 5-7 mins). Remove from pan and chop finely. Allow to cool.
- Mix spinach, ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup flour, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg in bowl until slightly sticky dough forms.
- Dust bench with flour. Working in batches and using floured hands, roll 1/4 of the dough on floured work surface to form a rope about 2cm thick. Roll remaining dough out in the same way, making 3 more ropes.
- Cut each rope into 2cm pieces to form gnocchi.
- Working in batches, add gnocchi to pot of boiling salted water; cook until gnocchi rise to surface. Cook 2 minutes longer. Using slotted spoon, remove gnocchi from water; drain. Place in serving dish and pour over ragu. Serve with more parmesan.
Serves 2
SLOW-COOKED BEEF RAGU
2 tbsp olive oil
1kg beef cut into 3cm pieces (a cheap cut, like shoulder would do)
680g pasatta (or any tomato pasta sauce you like)
salt and pepper
- In a large cassarole dish over medium heat, brown meat in batches in olive oil.
- Once browned, return meat to the pan and cover with passata.
- Cover with lid, reduce heat to low and cook for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally, until meat is falling apart. Season to taste.
- Serve over gnocchi.
Serves 2