One of Chef Mel’s specialities is creating house made pasta and sauces for the Filling Station restaurant in Larkin Square. As the restaurant remains closed, Mel is sharing some of her recipes that you can make at home. Her bolognese recipe isn’t exactly “traditional,” but it’s rich and has layers of great flavor with classic potato gnocchi! Check out both recipes below.
Bolognese
(recipe makes about one gallon of sauce)
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 ½ pounds ground veal, pork, beef mix
- 1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 6 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ pound pancetta, small dice
- 1 cup tomato paste
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 1 ½ quarts beef stock
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups fresh grated parmesan (fresh is very important)
- ½ bunch parsley, washed, finely chopped
- Salt & pepper
Instructions:
- On the stove top, heat a large pot at medium heat and add the pancetta. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until crispy, then add the onion, carrot, celery, and salt and pepper. Once the veggies start to sweat, add the garlic. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, until the veggies are cooked and translucent. Take cooked veggies out of the pan and put into a bowl.
- Put the pot back on the stove, re-heat and add the ground beef mix. Stir occasionally until fully cooked. Then add a little more salt and pepper, the cooked veggies and pancetta to the meat.
- Add the tomato paste, incorporating it all together, and cook out the tomato paste until the raw smell of the paste dissipates, 10 minutes.
- Add the red wine, and scrap the bottom of the pot with any fond that may be there from cooking the tomato paste. This adds to the flavor of the sauce. Once the wine is cooked out and reduced (only a few minutes) add the beef stock.
- Cover the pot, and bring the heat down to medium low. Once it’s at a high simmer, turn down to low and let the sauce cook down until the sauce is reduced by 2/3. This will take the longest amount of time- about one hour and a half to two hours.
- Add the heavy cream, let cook for another 15 minutes covered.
- Add the parmesan and parsley, stir to incorporate. At this time, you can add more salt and pepper if needed, or if you want it a little spicy, crushed red pepper.
Potato Gnocchi
(This recipe also makes a full sheet tray worth of gnocchi)
Ingredients:
- 6 Russet or baking potatoes
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- salt & pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- Equipment – potato ricer or food mill
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Begin by carefully poking holes in the cleaned potatoes, using a fork or knife. Rub them with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook for one hour or until when you poke them with a cake tester or knife, it goes through the potato with little to no resistance. Once out of the oven, cool the potatoes for several minutes. They still need to be very warm to put through the ricer.
- Cut the potatoes in half and remove/ discard the skin. Then place the potato pieces in the ricer.
- Once all potatoes are riced, add both of the eggs, and a little bit of salt and pepper. Mix with your hands, only enough so the eggs are just incorporated.
- At this point, put a large pot of water (filled almost to the top) on the stove. Let it come to a boil as you finish making the gnocchi.
- Going back to the bowl of potatoes, add 1 cup of the flour to the potatoes, and mix fully. The potatoes should be very sticky, so add the 2nd cup of flour, mixing fully. If the dough is still sticky, add a little more flour at a time, until the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers but is still moist. Getting the right feel for the dough is key for a good gnocchi.
- Mold your dough into a ball. Flour a bit of counter top surface, place the dough onto to floured surface. Cut the dough into 6 sections, and take one away to start, covering the rest of the dough with plastic wrap or a clean cloth so it doesn’t dry out.
- Flour the surface you will be working on, and roll out the dough with your hands, making a rope shape with the dough to about ¾ inch in diameter. With a sharp knife or bench knife, cut the rope crosswise every ¾ inch to make roughly ¾ in gnocchi.
- Lay them on a baking sheet with parchment sprinkled with flour, being sure none of the gnocchi are touching. Repeat this process of with all the dough, sprinkling the counter space with flour when needed.
- Generously salt the pot of boiling water (about 3 tbsp of Kosher salt)
- Lower your heat to medium so that the water is down to a simmer. If the water is kept at a boil, the gnocchi will end up shredding in the water.
- Doing this in batches, cook the gnocchi in the water for 2 – 4 minutes. They will fall to the bottom, and come back up to the top. Using a strainer, take them out of the water and place them on a tray lined with fresh parchment to drain.
- If desired, once drained you can sear the gnocchi in a very hot pan with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, and a little bit of butter at the end.
- Once the gnocchi is cooked and seared, top with bolognese, fresh parmesan and enjoy!
