Lamb Ragu

A flavourful Lamb and gnocchi bake made with a rich lamb mince ragu, spinach and semolina gnocchi. A not so traditional Italian pasta bake.

Click here for the downloadable recipe.

INGREDIENTS

Lamb

1 kg Lamb stew meat/ potjie meat

¼ cup Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Black pepper, freshly ground

2 tablespoons Oil

1 medium Onion, peeled and chopped

1 large Carrot peeled and chopped

1 stalk Celery, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon Tomato paste

2 sprigs Rosemary

2 cups Red wine

1 can Whole tomatoes

¼ cup Red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Honey

1 cup Lamb/chicken stock

2 cups Baby spinach

½ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Gnocchi

3 cups Milk

2 tablespoons Butter

1 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Fine semolina

1 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1 large Egg yolk

2 tablespoons Olive oil

¼ cup Finely chopped parsley

METHOD

Prepare the lamb ragu:

1. In a large bowl toss the lamb in the flour, salt and black pepper until well coated.

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy casserole dish over medium-high. Cook the lamb in batches until all the meat has been browned, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the lamb to another plate and set aside.

3. Use the same casserole dish and cook the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and rosemary until starting to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook until the tomato paste starts to caramelize. Deglaze the casserole dish with the wine. Add the tomatoes, vinegar and honey, stirring and scraping lose all the browned bits in the casserole dish. Bring the mixture to the boil and add the meat to the mixture. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook, reduce the heat and cook until the meat is falling off the bone, about 2 and ½ hours. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool down.

4. Remove the meat from the sauce, pick the meat from the bones and shred into small pieces. Return the meat to the sauce, discard the bones. Warm the ragu, wash the spinach and add it to the casserole dish. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the spinach is wilted.

Prepare the gnocchi and assembly of dish:

5. Line a 30x20 cm baking dish with baking paper, leaving an overhang on 2 sides.

6. Bring milk, butter and salt to the boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Gradually whisk in the semolina and cook, whisking until very thick and bubbling, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the parmesan cheese and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the egg yolk and scrape gnocchi mixture into the prepared pan and smooth over. Cover and chill until set for at least an hour.

7. Turn the gnocchi mixture onto a clean surface and remove the baking paper. Use a small circle cutter (2 cm) and cut into small rounds.

8. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add half of the gnocchi to the pan, arrange in a single layer, and cook without stirring until browned and crisp underneath, about 3 minutes. Turn the gnocchi and cook until the other side is browned and crisp, about two minutes.

9. Spoon the gnocchi into the dish with the ragu. Gently toss gnocchi in the ragu. Sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve with a fresh green salad.