BOLOGNESE GNOCCHI WITH VEGETABLES
Such a great family friendly winter warmer!!! A great way to make this meal really budget friendly is to double it and then freeze half the sauce, so it’s ready to go for another night.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced (optional)
350g beef mince
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
2 tablespoons tomato paste
800g tinned crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder combined with 3/4 cup water 1 cup baby spinach
500g packet gnocchi (from the dried pasta section)
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
Sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper
Method:
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan or saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until translucent, approx. 3 minutes. Add garlic, celery, carrot, and zucchini (optional). Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 4 minutes.
Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and cook until browned and cooked through. Stir in dried Italian herbs and tomato paste, coating the meat and vegetables evenly. Pour in crushed tomatoes and chicken stock mixture. Stir well to combine. Reduce heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the gnocchi to the pot/pan and stir through the sauce. Make sure the gnocchi are submerged in the sauce. Simmer and cook the gnocchi for 10 minutes.
Stir through the baby spinach, parmesan (optional) and season well.