Happy Sunday all. Today I’m sharing a recipe for a meaty, slow-cooked mushroom ragu with gnocchi.
It’s exactly the sort of fridge clear-out, pack-in-all-the-veggies dish I want to make at the weekend. Leftover ragu would be great tossed through cooked grains or with a baked sweet potato for lunch tomorrow.
One pot mushroom and Marmite gnocchi
Serves 4
300g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 large white onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin brown lentils
2-3 tsp (to taste) Marmite
1-2 tsp (to taste) balsamic or sherry vinegar
500g gnocchi
Preheat the oven to 200C fan. Arrange the mushrooms on a flat baking sheet, season and drizzle with oil. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring halfway, until deeply browned and crispy.
Meanwhile, heat a generous splash of olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion, celery, carrot and thyme leaves along with a sprinkle of salt. Fry until softened – around 10 minutes – before adding the garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes or so, until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the mushrooms, lentils and chopped tomatoes, filling the tomato tin with water and adding this too. Stir in the Marmite and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes, adding more water as needed, until the sauce is reduced and thickened. Taste to adjust the seasoning, adding the vinegar if you think it needs more acidity and more Marmite for extra umami flavour.
Stir in the gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes, until soft. Serve with parmesan, if you like.
I’m a bit addicted to shop-bought gnocchi at the moment, but of course, this sauce would also work a treat with whichever pasta you have to hand.
The baby step
If you’re holding back on the salt, remove some of the ragu to a separate pan for baby before adding the Marmite, cooking a few pieces of gnocchi in this separate pan. Fork-mash to the desired consistency.
PS This week I’m loving…
After three years we (my husband) finally got round to putting up our magnetic knife rack this week. It’s bringing me so much joy – not least because we’ve succeeded in ticking off one of those niggly house jobs, but also because it means my knives are within easy reach and not going blunt in an overcrowded cutlery drawer. Next on the list – clear out said overcrowded cutlery drawer.