Idaho® Potato Gnocchi With Lamb Ragout
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds whole baking potatoes
- 2 egg yolks, beaten
- 1 ½ cups flour
- pinch of salt
Ingredients for Lamb Ragout:
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 celery rib, finely diced
- 1 ½ pounds ground lamb
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
- 1 teaspoon chopped thyme
- pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup dry red wine
- one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 ¼ cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spear the potatoes with fork tines in several places around each potato to vent moisture as the potatoes cook. Bake the potatoes in their skins until tender, about an hour. Let cool on a rack, cutting them open to help cool and let more moisture escape.
- Scoop out the potatoes from their skins. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer and into a large bowl. If you don't have a potato rice you can mash the potatoes by hand and fluff them up a bit with a fork. It is best to work with the potatoes when they are still warm.
- Add the flour, egg and a pinch of salt. Mix by hand until you have a nice pliable ball of dough. Do not over mix.
- Dust a work area with flour. Take the dough, a piece at a time, and roll it out gently with your hands until you have rolls about 3/4 inch in diameter. It is very important to keep a light touch while you are rolling the dough. Gently roll the dough with your fingertips while while exerting the lightest pressure outwards, not down, to draw the dough out.
- Cut the tubes of dough into pieces about one inch long. Using either the tines of a fork or your fingertip, press against a piece of the dough and roll it slightly to form an indentation (good for catching the sauce). As the gnocchi are made, place them on flat baking pan, lightly dusted with flour or lined with wax paper.
- Bring at least 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in a shallow saucepan. Gently drop the gnocchi, a few at a time, into the water. As soon as they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon, draining well. Arrange on a warm serving dish. Continue cooking the gnocchi in the same manner. Yields approximately 100-1” gnocchi.
Directions for Lamb Ragout:
- In a large cast-iron casserole, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil.
- Add the carrot, onion and celery and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the lamb, coriander, fennel, cumin, rosemary and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste.
- Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and their juices, along with the stock and bring to a boil. Cover partially and cook over moderately low heat until the liquid is slightly reduced, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Spoon lamb ragu over cooked gnocchi and serve.