Passport & Plate - Beef Shin Ragu with Gnocchi
South Africa | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
For the Ragu
1.2 kg Beef shin (bone in)
1.5 Medium Onions (coarsely chopped)
4 Cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin of warm water
3 bay leaves
1 Table Spoon tomato paste
2 heaped tea spoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon mixed dry herbs and spices to rub into the meat (dried rosemary, thyme, crushed cumin and coriander seeds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Gnocchi
2 large potatoes (total weight around 500g)
Yolk of one egg
0.5 to 0.75 cup of flour
Pinch of salt
How to prepare this recipeSet your oven to 180 degrees.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a casserole pot on a medium high heat on the stove.
While the oil is heating up, rub the dry spice mix onto the beef shin
Brown the beef shin on both sides (2 pieces of shin at a time) and set aside on a plate
Add some more oil to the pot and add the chopped onion, stirring so it doesn't catch
Add the garlic and stir before adding the beef shin back into the pot
Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, paprika, bay leaves, water and a little salt and pepper
Bring up to a simmer on the stove before putting the lid onto the casserole dish and transferring to the oven
After 30 minutes turn the oven down to 160 degrees
Leave the casserole in the oven for around 4 -5 hours.
The beef shin should now be tender enough to shred with 2 forks. Shred the meat into the sauce, push the marrow out of the shin bones into the sauce, discard the bones and give the sauce a good stir.
Keep the ragu warm on top of the stove.
The Gnocchi
Bake the potatoes in the oven for about an hour at 160 (at the same time as the ragu is cooking)
They are done when a skewer passes through them easily
Remove from the oven and allow to cool until you can handle them
Halve the potatoes and scoop the flesh into a bowl
Mash the potatoes until they are smooth, adding a pinch of salt
Add the egg yolk and mix well
Add the flour a bit at a time and mix gently trying not to overwork the dough
When you have added enough flour to form a soft dough, break the dough into tennis ball sized pieces and roll out into strips on a floured surface.
Cut the strips into 1 cm lengths and set aside on a floured plate.
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, when boiling rapidly, drop the gnocchi into the boiling water.
When the gnocchi floats to the surface they are ready.
Drain the water and dish the gnocchi into warmed bowls. Spoon the Ragu over the top of the gnocchi and serve with a dusting of parmesan cheese.
The story behind this recipeIf you really want to know your neighbours, sleep in a tent.
That's how I got to know mine at the Lone-wolf campsite, starting off with the chopping of firewood at some unsociable hour in the morning.
My curiosity then got me involved with the preparation of supper at about the same time as everyone else was having their breakfast. Getting a fire going, chopping onions, digging a hole and bizarrely collecting rocks from down near the river.
In a flash, the meat was browned, in the pot and then everything disappeared. I had a waterfall to hike to so said farewell but was told I had to join them for supper later, an offer I couldn't refuse.
On my return at dusk the pot was being dug out of it's hole, smoke rising gently from some of the embers.
A bowl of Ragu and Gnocchi was put in my hands, the meat was tender and smoky in a rich tomato sauce, the gnocchi ever so light.
No matter how hard I have tried with the best equipment in the kitchen, I haven't been able to replicate the taste from that particular night. This recipe comes pretty darn close though.
