Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce

I had only eaten Gnocchi twice ever (this year, at 2 different restaurants). When I found out how easy it was to make, I set out to make my own, with my helpful and encouraging assistant: my husband :)

Origin of Gnocchi

I find the history of food interesting. If you don't, skip this part.

Apparently the word Gnocchi may come from the Italian word nocchio ( as in Pinocchio), meaning "knot in wood", or nocca meaning knuckle.

It originated in Roman times about 2000 years ago! The Roman Legions used to make it with semolina instead of potato. People only started using potatoes in the 16th century, but the idea is still pretty old anyway!

The Gnocchi Recipe

First off, I attribute my success to the following link: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Gnocchi

Serves 5 people with the sauce.

It's really simple! So simple in fact that you should make some for supper tonight! I had never made it before and had no problems at all, except for getting flour all over.

Cook and peel 1kg of potatoes (Woolworths organic potatoes are cool because you can keep the peels for making an onion and cheese omlette later on). Mash it up, or use a whisker (I used an electric beater), add in one egg and slowly add 300g of plain flour. Use a knife and then your hands to mix and knead it together, but don't over do it. Apparently it has to be kind of fluffy. Don't forget to add a teaspoon of salt into the dough.

Once this has made an amazingly textured dough, divide it into about 8 pieces. Divide each of those balls into 2 and roll into a sausage shape with a 3cm diameter. Then chop them into 2cm wide pieces and lay them on a tray so that they don't touch.

If you want to be fancy, use a fork to indent each piece> I didn't do that. I didn't lay them on a tray either and they all went weirdly shaped and stuck together. I also forgot to salt them, but they turned out just fine!

For the cooking: Get a pot of water boiling and throw in a quarter of your gnocchis at once, being careful not to get burnt by splashes. When they rise to the top, be ready with a colander and a slotted spoon to remove them. Put them in a clean bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Repeat until they are all done!

They don't taste fantastic alone, but with the below sauce.. it's filling and amazing!

The Bolognese Sauce

My husband made this part, and it was really good! Sometimes we cook by intuition, this is a good example. He fried 1 chopped onion, 2 medium-hot chillis and 3 cloves of crushed garlic in a little rice bran oil (we get the Paddy brand from Pick 'n Pay because it has a higher smoke point so is probably healthier). Then he added one 500g pack of lean free range mince (can only get that from Woolies > Free range makes it half as lean as regular lean mince). After a few minutes he added 3 grated carrots,1 400g can of tomatoes, a glug of red wine (Shiraz), a teaspoon of marjoram, a teaspoon of stock powder (anything works, except fish stock), one red pepper. If you want the mixture to thicken over the stove, sprinkle over 2 teaspoons of flour and mix it in. It doesn't make lumps if you stir while sprinkling like a snow fairy.

Traditionally, for this sauce from Bologna, Italy, you are supposed to add a tad of milk, and use white wine and maybe even some mushrooms and celery! If you have those in the fridge, you could try adding some in.

The Alternative: Blue Cheese Sauce

We also tried this out and found it easy to make, very rich to eat, but super tasty.

We heated 150ml of cream slowly in a pan with 50g of blue cheese (like Roquefort, or Gorgonzola) and 50g of Parmesan (we actually used 25g Swiss Gruyère). Once melted nicely together but never boiling add in 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper.

Buon appetito!