Ingredients:
Serves 4-6
For the ragout.
600g Oxtail
500g Shin beef, diced
2 Onions, 1 Sliced, One finely diced
1 Carrot, finely diced
1 Stick of celery, finely diced
3 Bay leaves
3 Sprigs of thyme
4 cloves of garlic
350ml Red wine
250ml Water
1 tsp Dried oregano
1 tblsp Tomato puree
400g Chopped tinned tomatoes
2 tblsp Balsamic vinegar
0.25 tsp Ground cloves
Salt and black pepper
For the Gnocchi:
1kg Desiree Potatoes, all even sizes, skin left on.
300g Plain flour, plus more for dusting
2 eggs
1 tsp Salt
To finish:
100g Butter
Fresh oregano leaves
200g Gorgonzola
Method:
For the ragout:
- Pre-heat an oven to 140 degrees C ( 275 F) gas mark 1.
- Add a little oil to an ovenproof saucepan and brown the oxtail on all sides.
- Add the shin beef, carrots, diced onion, celery and three of the garlic cloves. Brown everything then add the red wine, water, bay leaves and thyme. Make sure the
- Bring to the boil and season with salt and black pepper.
- Place the lid on the saucepan and put in the oven for 3 – 3.5 hours or until the oxtail is tender and pulls away from the bone.
- Carefully spoon all the meat from the liquid and set aside.
- Pour the rest of the contents of the pan through a sieve, reserving the liquid and discarding the vegetables.
- When the oxtail is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bone and shred all the shin beef and oxtail, discard the bones.
- Heat a saucepan and add a little oil. Add the sliced onion to the pan and fry gently for 10 minutes, stirring until the onion has become soft and brown.
- Crush and chop the remaining garlic clove and add to the pan along with the tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano and ground cloves, cook and stir for a further two minutes.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, shredded meat and cooking liquid to the pan and season with salt and black pepper.
- Simmer the ragout for an hour, stirring occasionally.
For the gnocchi:
- Pre heat an oven to 140 degrees C ( 275 F) gas mark 1.
- Place the potatoes, whole, in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes. The potatoes should be soft and cooked through.
- Remove the potatoes from the water and place on a baking tray. Place in the oven for ten minutes to get rid of some of the moisture.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and allow to cool slightly ( the potatoes still need to be reasonably hot when making the dough so don’t let them cool too much).
- Remove the skins and push the potato through a fine sieve or potato ricer onto a clean surface.
- Pour the flour on top of the potato and make a well in the centre, crack the eggs into the well, add the salt and gently beat the eggs together. carefully bring all the ingredients together making sure everything is combined but try not to over work the dough, add a little more flour if its sticky.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, lightly flour the top and gently roll into a rectangle.
- Cut the dough into 2.5 cm strips and then across into 1.5 cm pieces.
- When all the pieces are cut, take each one individually and use the back of a fork to round them width ways, use your hands to mould them slightly on the ends.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and turn down to a rolling simmer.
- Carefully add the gnocchi to the pan and cook until it begins to float (1-2 minutes)
- While the gnocchi is cooking add the butter to a pan and heat until it begins to froth, add some fresh oregano leaves to the butter.
- Drain the water from the gnocchi and add the gnocchi to the butter, move the gnocchi around in the butter as soon as it enters the pan to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- Gently fry until crisp and lightly browned (do this in two batches if your pan isn’t big enough).
- Remove the gnocchi from the pan and serve with the ragout, top with pieces of torn Gorgonzola and fresh oregano leaves.
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