Gnocchi Bolognese Recipe

Gnocchi Bolognese in bowl foodiecrush.com

Gnocchi Bolognese Recipe

Pillowy soft gnocchi tossed with homemade bolognese sauce is comfort food at its finest.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword gnocchi bolognese, gnocchi with meat sauce

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 3 30

Total Time 4

Servings

Calories 635kcal

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion , roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 celery stalk , roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 carrot , peeled and roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
28 ounces canned whole San Marzano tomatoes , in juice (about 3 cups)
8 ounces pancetta , cut into ½-inch chunks
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound 80/20 ground chuck beef
1 pound ground pork
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup whole milk (2% milk fat can be substituted)
2 cups beef or chicken broth
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
16 ounces gnocchi
Parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions

Sauté the aromatics. In a large Dutch oven or heavy bottom pot, add the olive oil and butter over medium heat. In a food processor, pulse the onion, celery, and carrot until finely chopped. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and golden, about 5-7 minutes.
Puree the tomatoes and pancetta. While the vegetables are cooking, add the tomatoes with their juice to the food processor and pulse 5-7 times until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Wipe out the food processor, then add the pancetta to the bowl. Pulse until the pancetta is a coarse paste. Set aside.
Build the sauce. Add the tomato paste to the Dutch oven and cook for about 10 minutes until the paste begins to brown, stirring when needed so it doesn't burn.
Add the ground chuck, pork, and pancetta to the pot along with the red pepper flakes. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat apart as it cooks, just until lightly browned and the meat loses its raw edge.
Add the wine and cook until the wine is almost all absorbed, about 10 minutes, stirring to scrape up any browned bits.
Add the milk and cook until it has evaporated, which will take about 30 minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat more as it cooks.
Simmer low and slow. Add the tomatoes, broth, bay leaves, and kosher salt. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to the lowest setting so it cooks with barely a bubble breaking the surface occasionally. Cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours until the meat is tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened to become rich and dark in color.
Tip: Toward the end of cooking, a layer of oil will likely rise to the top. Spoon off the oil or fold back into the sauce as desired.
Boil the gnocchi. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1-2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Add the gnocchi and cook until it floats to the top of the water, then 1 minute more.
Toss the gnocchi with the sauce. Use a spider to transfer the gnocchi to the warm sauce (remove the bay leaves first!). Toss and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Serve with ground Parmesan cheese and fresh herbs like basil or rosemary if desired.

Notes

The longer you cook the sauce the better it will become. If the sauce seems to dry out, add ¼ cup hot water at a time as needed.

Make ahead + storage: If you know your family won’t be able to eat a full pound of gnocchi in one sitting, cook less so the bolognese sauce can be stored separately in the fridge. If the cooked gnocchi sits in the sauce, it will soften and become mushy. Then, for a quick weeknight meal just warm the sauce in a skillet and toss with fresh-cooked gnocchi.

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