Week 2, I spent $43.28. I got 3 dinners for 2–3 people, plus lunch leftovers. Meal 3: Gnocchi Bolognese. It feels like a fancy Italian dinner out! This dinner is warm and comforting on a NZ winter’s evening, and it won’t break the bank or take up hours of your time. The cost of living in NZ is so high, so let’s make them pennies count. These Budget meals and cheap and delicious. Of course, you could make your gnocchi, and that would make this a little cheaper again. But sometimes you have to have a little convenience.
For this simple gnocchi bolognese, you will need:
350g -400g mince ( I had, half beef, half pork)
1/2 an onion
1 carrot
2 cans of tomatoes (it does not matter if they are whole or diced)
A pack of gnocchi
Some added extras if you had. Maybe you have some tomato paste open, a garlic clove, some Italian dried herbs, it could even be some cheese for the top. But whatever you have, you can add in.
First, dice up your onion and carrot and if you have some garlic too. You want to start to soften this off in the pan, add in a little 1/2 of salt to really soften it down. You can either move it to the side or take it out of the pan. Cook off your mince until nice and brown and caramelised. As that is all flavour. In my case, I had the tomato relish, but if you had some tomato paste, you could put it in, now cook it, add in 1 1/2 teaspoons of Italian herbs and then your tomatoes. If they are whole, make sure you break them all down. Then let this cook on a low heat for 20 mins with the lid on. Occasionally stirring to make sure it is not catching. And you want it to cook down so that all the watery liquid has gone. When it looks good. Cook your gnocchi and serve it up!
It’s a quick, easy meal to make, but it’s just a bowl of comfort. Enjoy
Del
x
3 Comments
Perfect Friday night dinner?
It looks incredibly delicious and so simple!
One clove of garlic? 🙈 It's about a fifth of what I'd add 😅