Homemade Parmesan Gnocchi with Short Rib Ragù

mariaantonette
Aug 3, 2014
3 min read

Homemade Parmesan Gnocchi with Short Rib Ragu

Pasta has always been my favorite ingredient to use in my cooking. Why? Simply because it's quick, easy, and ohhh so tasty. Not too long ago, I worked as a product developer for a noodle company in Los Angeles. I have been experimenting a lot with different types of pasta/noodles (e.i. flavored, organic, gluten free, etc.) Trust me, fresh pasta/noodles is the way to go!

Tonight, my pots and I decided to make Homemade Parmesan Gnocchi with Short Rib Ragù. Making this dish will take time but it is definitely worth the wait.

Short Rib Ragù

Ingredients 1 1/2 lbs short ribs, bone-in 1 pc yellow onion, chopped 3 stalks celery, chopped 3 pcs carrots, shredded 1 can tomato paste (6oz) 2 cups red wine 2-3 cups water 6-7 pcs sage, fresh 2 pcs bay leaves olive oil salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. 2. Coat a large oven safe pot with a very small amount of olive oil. 3. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Place the ribs in the pot and bake until it turns brown in color, roughly an hour.

Seasoning of ribs Ribs after browning

4. Transfer the browned short ribs to another container. Set aside. 5. Drain the oil from the pot leaving about a tablespoon for the vegetables. 6. While waiting, coarsely chop onion and celery. Shred the carrot into finer pieces. 7. Using the same pot, saute onions, celery, and carrots together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook it down until soft and brown to get that caramelized flavor.

Chopped celery Shredded carrots Pot of goodness :)

8. Stir in the tomato paste. Gradually add red wine, stirring constantly. 9. Pour in water and bring the mixture to boil. 10. Transfer short ribs back in the pot. Add sage and bay leaves, then cover the pot. 11. Simmer the short ribs mixture in the oven for about 2 1/2 hours at 350F. Add more water as needed. 12. Discard sage, bay leaves, and bones. Scoop out the meat from the pot and shred. 13. Place the shredded short ribs in the pot and stir all together.

Dump those herbs! Shredded short ribs Savory short rib ragu

Fresh Parmesan Gnocchi

Ingredients 2 lbs gold potatoes 1 pc egg white 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated 2 cups flour, all purpose Olive oil (optional)

Directions

Making and Manual Forming 1. Wash, peel, and prick potatoes. Pricking will allow the steam to go inside the potatoes to help it cook faster and more evenly. 2. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil. 3. Bake for an hour or until the potatoes are cooked all the way through. Bake in the same oven as the short ribs. 4. Using a potato ricer or masher, break potatoes into pieces and mash as fine as you can. That way you can have smooth dough to work with. 5. Spread it on a lined baking sheet and place in a refrigerator to cool down. 6. Once it's cool and workable, add egg white, parmesan cheese and flour. 7. Dust your kneading table with flour. 8. Knead until ingredients are fully combined and have a smooth dough surface. Add more flour if dough is too wet or more egg whites if too dry. 9. Cut the dough in 8 equal parts. 10. Roll each part to create a rope-like shape about 1/2 inch thick. 11. Cut the rolled dough about 7/8 inch long.

12. Dust the pillows with flour to keep them from sticking together.

13. Poke each pillow to put dimple on it or use fork to mark lines around it. Dimple and shallow marks on the pillows will help in adhesion of the sauce or simply use a gnocchi mold.

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Partially mashed potatoes Rolling, cutting, and forming of gnocchi

Gnocchi pillows

Cooking

1. Boil a pot of water with ample salt. Cook only a hand full of gnocchi per batch. Gnocchi is ready when they float to the surface. 2. Scoop it out with pasta ladle and set aside.

Pan seared gnocchi (optional)

1. In a large non stick pan, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over high heat.

2. Place gnocchi on the hot pan and sear until crisp and golden brown.