ONE WEEK CHALLENGE: DAY SIX

LUNCH

pork and veal meatballs

Learning from yesterday's incident of having lunch far too early and arriving home from work famished, I managed to wait until the more respectable time of 11:45am to eat my meatballs.  Hey, still not officially lunch hours but at least I could flaunt my home-cooked meal to people still in the office (who, admittedly, were wondering why I was eating lunch so early).

Only die-hard leftover lunch aficionados would take grated parmesan cheese in a separate container for full taste effect. Oh yes.

DINNER

And on the sixth day, we shall have gnocchi.  Gnocchi can go very bad very quickly, but this is because it is easy to overcook and becomes rubbery.  The trick is to boil it until it starts floating to the top of the water and keep it oiled or wet until serving as it can tend to stick together once cooked.

If you are really pressed for time store bought gnocchi is fine, but we like a challenge in this household so made it ourselves.  Even though we were both starving, tired and cold, we managed to make it in record time and use just about every utensil in the kitchen.  Washing up was not that enjoyable.

gnocchi with pork sausage and cherry tomato sauce

gnocchi

  100g potatoes, whole and unpeeled

  200g plain flour, plus extra to dust

sauce

  4 pork sausages, casings removed

  1 tin cherry tomatoes

  1 cup beef stock

  1/2 red chilli, diced

  2 stalks basil

  2 stalks rosemary

  2 stalks thyme

  1 garlic, crushed

  3tbsp olive oil

Place potatoes in a large saucepan with cold water.  Bring to the boil and cook until soft (test with a skewer or knife).

Remove from heat and drain.  Leave to cool slightly before removing skin with a potato peeler or knife (do not let the potatoes cool completely as this will affect the finished texture).  Place peeled potato back in the saucepan and mash.  Press the mash through a fine sieve to remove any lumps and place in a clean bowl.  Add the flour and stir the mix until it forms a smooth dough, adding a little more flour if required.  Cut the dough into four portions and roll each out into a log on a lightly floured surface.

Cut each log into tablespoon sized portions and indent with a fork.  Cook, a few at a time, in salted boiling water until they float to the top (around 2-3 minutes).

To make the sauce, lightly fry the garlic and chilli in a frying pan with the olive oil.  Add the pork sausage, breaking up any large chunks with a wooden spoon.  Fry until browned then add the cherry tomatoes, stock and whole herbs.  Simmer on a low heat for 20-25 minutes until sauce thickens.

Once ready, remove the herb stalks from the sauce.  Place cooked gnocchi in a bowl and top with sauce.  Serve as is or add some grated cheese for extra naughtiness.