Spicy N’duja Ragu with gnocchi
Spice up your next cooking adventure with some tasty N’duja, a piquant spreadable sausage originating from the southern part of Italy, known as Calabria. N’duja is a peppery combination of pork fat, fragrant herbs, spices and the hero ingredient, Calabrian peppers which give the N’duja its typical hot chilli flavour and distinctive red colour.
This deliciously hot Italian spreadable sausage is the base ingredient of our stunning Salsaccia sauce. It pairs fantastically with pasta or gnocchi – truly a fiery match made in heaven. But to be honest, this sauce is so delicious that even a spoonful over a simple hot jacket potato is irresistible!
For this recipe, we have used shop-bought gnocchi, but by all means, make your own if you have some spare time.
Kate Brooke Green
Category
Lunch/Dinner
Servings
4 - 5
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Ingredients
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600g Mustard At Home Salsiccia Ragu, defrosted
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2 250 g bags of gnocchi
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8 Hispi cabbage leaves, roughly chopped
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2 Slices of Ciabatta bread, crusts removed and blitzed in a food processor (if you don’t have ciabatta you can use bread of choice. Also, if you don’t have a food processor, simply tear the bread by hand into small pieces)
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Zest of half a lemon
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1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
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1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
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4 tablespoons olive oil
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Parmesan or Pecorino cheese to grate over finished dish
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Salt and cracked black pepper for seasoning
Directions
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Place the pumpkin seeds onto an oven tray and lightly toast at 180°C for 4 - 5 minutes.
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Add the blitzed ciabatta bread and drizzle over the olive oil. Carefully mix and place back in the oven for a few minutes to toast the breadcrumbs.
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Place the toasted ciabatta breadcrumbs and pumpkin seeds in a bowl and add lemon zest, chopped parsley and season with a little salt and cracked black pepper.
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Place a large pot of water on the stove and bring to the boil. Add the roughly torn hispi cabbage leaves and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
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Empty the Mustard At Home Salsaccia Sauce into a large flat frying pan and bring to a simmer.
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Open the gnocchi and pour into the pot of boiling water. Cook the gnocchi according to pack instructions. When the gnocchi floats to the top, remove with a slotted spoon and place in the Salsaccia sauce.
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Add the blanched hispi cabbage leaves to the sauce and carefully stir to combine and coat the gnocchi.
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Divide between 4 bowls and sprinkle over the ciabatta crumbs and pumpkin seeds.
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Finish with a generous quantity of grated Parmesan cheese and serve.
Recipe Note
Chef Tips
If you have reduced the sauce too much, or you would like to loosen it a little more, add some of the gnocchi cooking water. This water contains starch released from the gnocchi and will help to hold the sauce together.
You could also transform this recipe into a lovely oven tray bake. Simply blanch the hispi cabbage and cook the gnocchi. Then, place both in a large oven-proof casserole dish and pour over the cold Salsaccia sauce. Top the dish with ciabatta crumbs and pumpkin seeds as well as a generous quantity of grated mature cheddar and parmesan cheese. Pop into the oven and wait for a delicious meal to bake to perfection.
Writer profile: Katie Brooke Green
After honing her skills at Westminster Kingsway, culinary competitions and the kitchens of many high-end restaurants, it was a drive for new challenges whilst fusing her talents of a fine art degree that led to moving into food and product development. She developed and launched many products with top retailers Waitrose and M&S, worked with established manufacturers, airline and food delivery services, and headed up food development at prominent restaurant group, the Ivy Collection.