Slow-braised Pork Ragu with Roasted Garlic Gnocchi - (Free Recipe below)

Serves 4

1kg de-boned pork leg
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1x 400g tin tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
4 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole
2 tbsp NoMU All Purpose rub or roasting spice of your choice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
for the gnocchi
1 kg baking/fluffy potatoes
1 garlic head, roasted
2 egg yolks
1-1.5 cups flour
salt to taste

1. To make the pork ragu, pre-heat the oven to 160°c.
2. Place the pork, onions, tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, soy sauce, spices, sugar and salt & pepper into a roasting dish with a lid. Add a tin of water (use the tomato tin) and cover.
3. Place in the oven and allow to roast for 3-4 hours until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily.
4. In the meantime, make the gnocchi.
5. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour until a skewer is easily inserted.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
7. Halve the potatoes and scoop the flesh into a bowl.
8. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin and place into the bowl with the potatoes. Using a potato masher/fork, mash until there are no lumps.
9. Add the egg yolks and mix well.
10. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time and mix in gently, you don’t want to over-work the dough. I only needed 1.5 cups of flour for my gnocchi but some mixtures might need a bit more. It’s best to make sure your potatoes are quite dry before adding the flour though as the more flour you add, the tougher your gnocchi will be.
11. When you’ve added enough flour to result in a soft dough, break tennis ball sized pieces off of the dough and roll into long strips on a floured surface. cut the strip into 1cm gnocchis and place on a floured tray until you are ready to cook them. If you like, you can also use a fork to make indents in the gnocchi which create little spaces to suck up more of the ragu sauce.
12. When the pork is cooked and soft, remove from the oven. Turn the heat up to 220°c. Shred the pork with two forks and place back in the sauce. Adjust the seasoning of the sauce if needed. Place the ragu back in the oven and allow to continue cooking until you’re ready to serve it with the gnocchi.
13. To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and drop the gnocchi in carefully. When they float to the surface they are ready. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place straight into the ragu.
14. Serve immediately.