Autumn Lamb Gnocchi

For The Glutton’s

Autumn Lamb Gnocchi

I find that when cooking we get into habits, as with everything else.  We have similar ingredient combinations, use the same spices, the same veggies.  Cook with a friend, and serious compromises need to be made, new flavours happen, and you step out of your comfort zone.  This is how we came up with our latest dish!

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 450 g (1 lb) lean, boneless lamb, cubed
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 14oz can of chopped tomatoes
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp harissa paste
• 1 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1/2 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 cups green beans, chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 400g gnocchi
• 2 pinches brown sugar
• fresh mint sprigs

 

Method

Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium high heat.  Add lamb to brown off, do not overcrowd pot.  Remove meat with slotted spoon.

Reduce heat, add onion and garlic to pot.  Cook until soft and fragrant.

Add tomato paste. Allow to heat, and if feeling adventurous, caramelize.  Stir in harissa paste.  Whisk in stock.  Re-add meat.  Briefly bring to a boil, then reduce heat and stir in tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric. Simmer for 45 minutes. Add in sweet potato.  Simmer for 15 additional minutes. Discard thyme stem, rosemary stem, bay leaf.  Stir in chickpeas, carrot, and beans. Simmer for 10 minutes, stir in gnocchi, cook until floating (read packaging instructions).  At this point, we found our pot was too full! So, for the gnocchi step, we removed some of the meat and veg.  As well, if soup is too thick, feel free to add additional stock.

Once gnocchi is cooked, remove from heat and slowly whisk in cream.  Return to heat to a low simmer for 3 minutes.  Serve, garnish with mint.