ELSABIE’S POTATO GNOCCHI BAKED IN BOLOGNESE SAUCE
Homemade gnocchi with a four cheese topping! I spent some time in the kitchen today, a bit more than usual and made my own gnocchi, which by the way, is much nicer than the vacuum packed shop ones! Baked in basil pasta sauce with bacon and topped with edam cheese, extra mature cheddar, mozzarella and blue cheese. Or use with the attached pasta sauce recipe. Delizioso! Oh my word this was delicious!!! Decadently rich. Washed it down with Chocoholic Pinotage. All I missed was ciabatta to mop my plate with.
- Potato gnocchi:
- 2 kg potatoes (floury type), cooked in skins, then removed and mashed, keep warm until ready to make the dough
- 10 ml salt
- pinch grated nutmeg
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 750 ml cake flour, sifted
- Bolognese sauce:
- 500 g home-made potato gnocchi
- 500 g lean mince
- 440 g bottle pasta sauce (I used extra garlic & tomato pasta sauce but any bottled pasta sauce would work)
- 300 g ball of Mozzarella, sliced into approximately 8 slices
- 125 g creamy blue cheese, cut into chunks
- fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Gnocchi:
Make the dough for the gnocchi just before cooking as it becomes damp if allowed to stand. Mix the warm mashed potato, salt, nutmeg, and eggs. Work enough flour into it to make a firm but soft dough. Divide the dough into pieces and roll in well-floured hands to thick pencil shapes about 10 mm in diameter. Cut into 25 mm lengths and pinch center of each one lightly between finger and thumb or shape on the coarse side of a grater. Place the gnocchi on a floured tea towel, making sure they do not touch one another or stick together. Bring a large saucepan with salted water to a quick boil and drop in the gnocchi a few at a time. Do not crowd the pan. As soon as they float to the surface, scoop them out with a slotted spoon. Use as per the recipe attached or serve with melted butter and grated Parmesan, the four cheese option mentioned above or any pasta sauce of choice.
Bolognese sauce:
Note:
I cooked the gnocchi last to avoid it standing while preparing the rest of the dish then tipped it straight into the bolognese sauce.
Fry the mince in a little oil and break up the large pieces so that it is crumbly. Add the bottled pasta sauce and heat through. Remove from the heat. Add the cooked gnocchi and stir gently to coat with the sauce. Spoon the gnocchi in bolognese sauce into an ovenproof dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Place the mozzarella slices on top and drop the chunks of blue cheese in between and one on every mozzarella slice. Bake in preheated oven at 220 °C for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and a golden colour start appearing on top. Garnish with fresh basil leaves. It will be best served with ciabatta as the sauce needs mopping up.
Gnocchi recipe and dish photo: Elsabie Templeton
