Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Sugo

This goat cheese gnocchi with sugo features light, pillowy homemade gnocchi paired with a deeply savory braised short rib sauce. Fork-tender meat and a velvety blended braising liquid come together for the ultimate Italian comfort meal.

Recipe

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Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Sugo

Total Time4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: pasta

Servings: 8

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Sugo

• 5 pounds meaty bone-in beef short ribs
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup onions chopped
• ½ cup carrots chopped
• 1 cup celery chopped
• 5 cloves garlic chopped
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Gnocchi

• 1 pound fresh goat cheese softened at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Remaining ingredients

• grated parmesan

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or oven-safe large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is smoking hot, add the short ribs and sear on all sides until browned and caramelized. Remove from heat and transfer to a baking dish.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add onions, carrots, and celery to the same pot and saute until softened and translucent about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another minute. Add tomato paste and stir to coat the vegetables in the paste. Add red wine and bring to a boil. Add back the short ribs along with the chicken broth, canned tomatoes, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cover the pot and bake in the oven until short ribs are tender, about 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare the gnocchi. Combine goat cheese, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl of a stand mixer. Beat just until combined. Add the flour and beat until a soft dough begins to form, adding additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time if needed. Portion the dough into 4 pieces. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Remove one portion of the dough from the fridge. Dust a clean work counter with flour and roll out the dough into a 1-inch thick rope. Cut the rope into ¾-inch pieces. Transfer the gnocchi onto a lightly floured baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
• Remove short ribs from the oven. Transfer short ribs onto a plate, discarding the bones. Pour the braising liquid as well as the cooked vegetables into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the sauce back into the pot and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Return the short ribs to the sauce and keep warm.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the gnocchi in batches and cook until they start to float to the top about 1-2 minutes. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon directly into the sugo. Gently toss to combine and portion into 4 bowls. Finish with grated parmesan on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

You can braise the short ribs the night before and reheat them before serving with the gnocchi.

You can make the gnocchi and freeze them until ready to cook.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Prepare short ribs

Sugo is an Italian meat sauce made from either pork or beef; this recipe uses one of my favorite cuts of meat, short ribs. However, you can also use chuck roast for a less expensive option.

Before we can braise the meat, we need to first brown it. Take the time to sear all the sides of the short rib to create a beautiful crust. This step alone should take about 10 minutes.

Remove the short ribs and add the vegetables, sauteing them until softened. Then, add the red wine, scraping up the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits. This is where all the flavor is!

Step 2: Braise

Add the short ribs back into the pot along with the remaining ingredients, and continue braising in the oven. You can prepare the sugo either on the stovetop, in the Instant Pot, or in the oven. I've had success with all three methods.

Once the short ribs are fork-tender, remove them from the braising liquid and set them aside. We're going to blend the remaining liquid to make a sauce.

All of the flavor from the beef and vegetables is going to go back into the gnocchi, delicious, right?

Reheat the sauce until simmering and slightly reduced, and add the meat back in.

Step 3: Make gnocchi

Gnocchi is a type of pasta made from flour, egg, and potato. Many variations, nowadays, replace the potato with other ingredients to make sweet potato gnocchi, ricotta gnocchi, and, in this case, goat cheese.

When making the dough, add a little flour at a time to avoid adding too much. The dough should come together and will be soft but still pliable.

Roll out the dough and, using a sharp knife, cut it into small pieces.

If you have the patience, roll each gnocchi down the back of a fork or a gnocchi paddle if you have one. I rolled half of them down the back of a fork until I decided to just skip it. The gnocchi will be covered in the sauce anyway, no one will see!

Feel free to make the gnocchi the day before and chill it in the refridgerator until ready to cook.

Step 4: Putting it all together

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the gnocchi. As with all fresh pasta, the gnocchi will cook rather quickly. You know when they're ready when they float to the top.

Top the goat cheese gnocchi with the sugo and freshly grated parmesan, and you have a lovely meal!

As a private chef, I've prepared this dish countless times for clients for special occasions and have always received high praise. So I knew it was time to share this recipe with you all! The gnocchi itself is incredibly light, balancing the rich, flavor-bursting sauce. Hands down, the best gnocchi I've had to date!

Make-ahead and storage

• Make-ahead: You can cook the sugo and make the gnocchi the day before.
• Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refridgerator for up to 4 days.

More comforting pasta recipes

Looking for more comforting pasta ideas? Try these: