Gnocchi with Pork and Mushroom Ragu - Jan 30, 2010

Potato Gnocchi with Pork and Mushroom Ragu

This recipe caught both Nick's and my attention in February's Bon Appetit. One of the main themes of this issue is 'meat and potatoes,' two things that we've been trying not to eat too often, but this recipe made the cut. It was a team effort, with Nick making the ragu and me being in charge of the gnocchi. It's been awhile since I've made gnocchi, and strangely, I've never made it with plain old russets, instead it's always been sweet potato or pumpkin in the past. I was expecting the process to be tedious, but I actually found it to be quite enjoyable. It took a bit of time, but the dough was great to work with and the finished little potato pillows were perfect in texture and taste.

The ragu was delicious. We ended up making a few changes. Instead of boneless pork rib meat, we used a boneless pork roast, since the former was M.I.A. at the co-op. I was worried it would be too tough, but the half inch cubes were quite tender. Also, we omitted the dried porcinis, since I could not locate them at the store either. We substituted with a bit more criminis. While the end result was very tasty, I think it would be just as good with a higher mushroom to pork ratio, or even with all mushrooms. All-in-all, this is a great recipe and well worth the work. It would be fun to do for guests as both the ragu and gnocchi can be made ahead of time.