Ingredients
- 2 pounds Italian sausage, removed from casing and crumbled
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and ground
- 1 tablespoon red chile flakes
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 bulb fennel, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 rib celery, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 cups basic tomato sauce, recipe follows
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Ricotta gnocchi, recipe follows
- Pecorino Romano, grated
Directions
In a heavy-bottomed pan, cook the sausage over high heat until it begins to brown in its own fat. Add half of the fennel seeds and chile flakes. Remove the sausage from the pan when cooked through and add the onions, fennel, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook the vegetables until they're well browned and return the sausage to the pan. Add the tomato sauce and remaining fennel seeds and chile flakes. Simmer 1/2 hour, until vegetables and sausage are very tender. Season well with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Gently slip as many gnocchi at a time as will float freely into a pot of boiling water, stirring gently with a wooden spoon as you do. Cook until the gnocchi rise to the surface, about 7 minutes. (Test 1 for doneness by cutting into the center; the gnocchi should be the same color and consistency all the way through.) Scoop them out with a wire skimmer as soon as they are cooked. Drain and add to the pan with the hot ragu, tossing gently 1 minute to coat. Top with Pecorino Romano and serve immediately.
Gnocchi:
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh goat-milk ricotta
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, or as needed
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Place the ricotta in a fine sieve over a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight. In a medium-sized bowl, stir the drained ricotta, 1 cup of the flour, the eggs, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg together gently but thoroughly until a soft dough forms, adding a little more of the flour if the dough is sticky when poked. Forming the gnocchi: dip 2 tablespoons in cool water. Using 1 spoon, scoop up a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta mixture and use the other spoon to form it into a smooth, pointed oval. (Alternatively, you can roll the mixture into balls with well-floured hands, using about 2 tablespoons ricotta mixture for each ball.) Place the gnocchi on a baking sheet lined with a lightly-floured kitchen towel.
Basic Tomato Sauce:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4 inch dice
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
- 1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
- 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
- Salt, to taste
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Yield: 4 cups
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By Annapolis Chef
annapolis, MD
on November 20, 2011
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Very good! Smelled wonderful and my husband could not get enough.
Used grilled hot Italian sausage cooled and sliced thin then added to the sauce since neither of us are fans of crumbled ground meat. Don't skip the red pepper flakes.
By ljo84
Victoria, BC
on October 16, 2011
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I used this recipe strictly for the ricotta gnocchi. We did not make the sausage sauce, instead just roasted some cherry tomatoes, pancetta, shallots, garlic and combined with a brown butter and tossed together and topped off with fresh parmesan and basil. It was soooo tasty!
The gnocchi was light, airy and deeeeelicious!! I would HIGHLY recommend making these gnocchi. I also strained it over night, covered then removed the saran for the afternoon to really dry it out.
By NY2COMunchkin
Lakewood, CO
on December 14, 2009
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I made the gnocchi only, as I had a large container of ricotta I needed to use up. I popped the formed gnocchi into the freezer while waiting for the water to boil (takes a while longer here in Denver. They were very cold, but not frozen when I was ready for them. I dropped them in and scooped them out as they floated to the top; I did not wait for the whole batch to be done. As I scooped, I transfereed them to a frying pan containing butter, garlic, and red chili flakes. I had absolutely no problem with the gnocci falling apart as some others have repoted. I also drained the ricotta in the refrigerator for most of the day. This may have helped also. These were delicious! I can't wait to try the sauce.
Now I have a use for the extra large container of ricotta from Costco!
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