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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Mix spinach, ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup flour, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg in bowl until slightly sticky dough forms.
4. 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.
5. Cut each rope into 2cm pieces to form gnocchi.
6. 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

1. In a large cassarole dish over medium heat, brown meat in batches in olive oil.
2. Once browned, return meat to the pan and cover with passata.
3. Cover with lid, reduce heat to low and cook for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally, until meat is falling apart. Season to taste.
4. Serve over gnocchi.

Serves 2