Braised Lamb Ragout with Potato Gnocchi

This dish was created with donated food as part of the Everybody Eats Cook-Off. 

Ingredients

Braised lamb ragout

• 1 leg of lamb
• 2 brown onions, diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 1/4 bunch celery diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1/4 cup rosemary
• 1/4 bunch thyme
• 100g tomato paste
• 500g tomato puree
• 250ml red wine
• 2lt beef stock

Potato gnocchi

• 500g mashed potatoes
• 125g of flour
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 50g parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Method

Braised lamb ragout

Pre-heat oven to 180° fan-bake

Season the lamb well with salt and pepper

Sear the lamb in the large frying pan until it has a nice golden colour

Put the lamb into a deep baking dish preferably deep enough so the lamb can be submerged under the sauce

In the same pan, add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, herbs and tomato paste

Cook them until vegetables have a nice brown colour

Add red wine into the mix, and scrape the bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to deglaze the pan

Add tomato purée and beef stock into the mix, and cook for 5 - 8mins

Add the mix into a baking dish with lamb, making sure to leave some room in the dish so the ragout won't overflow during braising

Place baking paper on top of the ragout then cover the top with aluminium foil

Poke a couple of holes in it to help release some of the steam

Place in the preheated oven and let them cook for 90 -120mins

While the lamb is cooking begin preparing the potato gnocchi

 

Potato gnocchi

Make roughly 500g of finely mashed potatoes.

Season them well

Let it cool down for a bit

While the mash is still warm, add flour, eggs and cheese

Knead the dough until there are no lumps of flour and the eggs and cheese are fully incorporated into the dough

Once the dough is made, put a large pot of water with a generous amount of salt on the stove and begin to boil

Lightly dust the kitchen bench with flour

Divide the dough into workable sizes - roughly 5 small pieces

Take 1 portion of dough and cover the rest of the dough with a towel so it won't go dry

Gently roll the dough into a rope about 3/4 inch in diameter

Gently dust them with flour then cut them into 3/4-inch cubes

Line a tray with baking paper and place gnocchi on the tray - make sure you dust them with generous amounts of flour and don't place them too close to each other otherwise they will stick to each other repeat the process with the rest of the dough

When water is at a rolling boil, gently drop the gnocchi into water half of the tray at a time - not all at once

When the gnocchi float to the top of the pot, scoop them out onto a lightly oiled tray

Repeat with the rest.

Once gnocchi has cool down enough make sure to toss them around and lightly cover them with oil to prevent sticking

Go back to your ragout

If the meat is falling off from the bone, take it out from the oven and let it  rest for 30 - 45mins

Shred the meat off the bone with a fork and remove the bone

You can mash the vegetables up with a whisk if you want them to be more like a sauce

Season to taste

 

To assemble

Heat a large pan with a drizzle of oil

Fry the gnocchi until golden and crispy

Add a generous scoop of ragout to the gnocchi

Add a small knob of butter

Once the gnocchi is well-coated in sauce, place them in a dish

Add some more cheese on top.