Gnocchi with Rabbit and Mushroom Ragu

A fancy twist on a hearty favourite, curated to pair with our Amphora Tempranillo. 

Method:

Gnocchi

Ingredients:

• 500g Potatoes
• 100g Parmesan cheese
• 1 Egg
• 1-teaspoon salt
• 90 – 100g ‘oo’ Flour

Method:

• Wrap potatoes in foil and poke with a fork. Place on a tray and into the oven for 60 -70 minutes on 120°
• Remove potatoes from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
• Remove foil and cut potatoes in half, scrape out the potato flesh into a bowl (please note that they will be very hot).
• Add the potato into a large mixing bowl or on a floured bench. Start to knead in the Parmesan cheese and egg, slowly incorporating all the flour until you have a nice semi-firm dough. You may need more flour so don’t be scared to add a little- just be mindful to not use too much as it may become floury.
• Roll out and cut into whatever sized pieces you desire.
• In a pot of seasoned boiling water, add the gnocchi pieces (stir the water before adding them, this will help prevent them from sticking).
• Once the Gnocchi start to float, give them about 30 seconds and remove and place into an ice water bath. This will stop the cooking process.
• Strain the water and place in dry container adding some olive oil to prevent them from sticking.

(This method of cooling down allows you to reheat them later in either a pot of water or pan-frying them. They will also last up to 5 days if cooled and stored correctly.)

 

Rabbit and Mushroom Ragu

Ingredients

• 5 Rabbit legs
• Flour
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1½ cups rough chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 cups chopped fresh or canned diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• ½ teaspoon ground Coriander seeds
• ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 2 ½ cups red wine
• 4 cups chicken stock

Mushroom Preparation:

• 2 tablespoons diced shallots or onion
• 1 clove of garlic crushed and chopped (or use a garlic press)
• 4 cups thickly sliced wild mushrooms (Swiss Brown, Oyster, Shiitake, Enoki, White Buttons etc.)
• ¼ cup chopped parsley – Flat leaf is best

Instructions

• Dust the rabbit legs with flour and season with salt and pepper.
• Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to an ovenproof pan/pot and brown rabbit legs on all sides.
• Remove rabbit and set aside.
• Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic and spices to pan and cook until just beginning to brown. Add tomatoes, herbs, wine and stock and bring to a boil. Add rabbit, cover and place in a preheated 180 degree oven for 60 – 70 min minutes or until rabbit is tender and falling off the bone.
• Strain off to keep all the braising liquor.
• Remove rabbit and discard the braising vegetables. Pull all the meat of the legs and discard the bones.
• Set rabbit meat aside. Place braising liquor in a saucepan and reduce over high heat until it halves until lightly thickened.
• Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
• While the braising liquid is reducing, prepare mushrooms. Add shallots, garlic and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to a frypan and quickly sauté until just beginning to colour.
• Add mushrooms to the pan and sauté until softened and start to colour.
• Once mushrooms have started to colour, add them to the braising liquor and simmer for 5 mins, then add in Rabbit meat. Season to taste.
• In the pan used for the mushrooms, gently clean the surface with paper towel and add oil. Heat to medium and then add in cooked gnocchi (make sure its dry otherwise it will splatter)
• Heat gnocchi in frypan until it just starts to just colour. You want to warm it all the way through. You can put the gnocchi in a pot of boiling water to warm through before putting in frypan, or you can have them straight from the boiling water without pan-frying them.
• Once warmed through add to the ragu and fold in chopped parsley.
• Serve hot and you can put some shaved Parmesan over the top if you like.