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Chicche Di Patate with Beef Ragù

Chicche Di Patate with Beef Ragù

A Beef Ragù/ Bolognese with small Chicche Di Patate (potato gnocchi) makes an easy, rustic and tasty winter’s meal. This particular recipe, whilst very tasty, has a slight
“vegetable” taste to it with the inclusion of grated courgette in addition to the standard staples of onion, garlic, carrot and celery, so a good way to get some tasty veg into everyone’s tummies in the family and the small gnocchi add fun, taste and texture

If you want to make the ragù “heartier”/tastier, add a little more of the likes of pancetta/bacon, tomato paste, red wine or a small amount of sugar

I cooked this dish to take to a friend’s place to watch the rugby and as the small gnocchi only takes a couple of minutes to cook, even though we were running late because of the rugby traffic, we were eating within 5 minutes

Potato “chicche” are a tasty alternative to the larger sized classic gnocchi. An evolution of the original gnocchi recipe that combines selected potatoes with wheat flour, they are ready to cook and can be served in a just a few minutes.

If you can’t be bothered cooking this Ragù recipe, you can use your favourite bolognese and add the Chicche Di Patate at the end

 

Ingredients

Olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, grated

2-3 ribs celery, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp finely chopped thyme

½ tsp finely chopped rosemary

Approx. 100 gms of diced pancetta/ 200 gms bacon

900 gms- 1 kg of beef mince

2 courgettes grated

2 cans crushed tomatoes

2 cups chicken or beef stock stock

250 mls red wine

100 gms tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

2 packets of Chicche Di Patate – below is a photo of the brand that I have used

Grated parmesan cheese – one cup

 

If you don’t want or need such a large dish, simply halve the recipe

 

Cooking instructions

1.      Heat a drizzle of oil in a large fry-pan on a low heat, gently cook the pancetta for around one minute until starting to sizzle and brown. Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery and herbs and cook for about 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened.

2.      Add beef mince and cook a further 3 minutes, breaking up mince with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

3.      Add courgette, stock, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine and salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer a further 6-8 minutes, until thickened.

4.      Bring a medium pot of salted water to the boil.

5.      Cook the ragù  until cooked through, checking the seasoning and flavour, adjusting as you want

6.      When beef ragù has 3 minutes cook time remaining, cook chicche de patate in the pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, until it floats to the surface and is just tender. Reserve ½ cup pasta water, then drain.

7.      Toss cooked chicche de patate through beef ragù. Add ¼-½ cup reserved pasta water if sauce is too thick. Season to taste with pepper, and salt if needed.

8.      Spoon chicche di patate beef ragù into bowls and sprinkle over Parmesan cheese.

 

Serve with a simple green salad or baby spinach or rocket leaves

Buon Appetito!

 

Serves 6-8