ADALBERTO BATTAGLIA - QUINTO QUARTO - gnocchi alla vaccinara

Ingredients

300 gr of potatoes gnocchi
200 gr Vaccinara oxtail ragout
25 gr of Pecorino Romano DOP
25 gr of Parmigiano 25 months old 20 gr of cocoa powder

Season the oxtail pieces with a good helping of salt and pepper, then dust with flour.

Sear in a hot pan with some lard or olive oil until browned all over.

Remove the oxtail from the pan and set aside.

Add the pancetta, onion, diced celery, carrot and garlic to the pan and saute until soft. Add the cinnamon, herbs and tomato puree to the pan and stir for 1 minute.

Deglaze with the red wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with the wooden spoon.

Add the seared oxtail to the pan and let the wine reduce by half.

Add the tinned tomatoes, lengths of celery and enough stock to cover the oxtail.

Adalberto Battaglia aka Adha is the mastermind behind the Quinto/Quarto project that after popping up all over London over the last few years has finally settled down opening the “One and Only” Trattoria Romana in North London.

Adha has another title: The King of Gnocchi. It was his food market stall on Brick Lane that won him this title a few years back. His trademark is using the whole animal. Something he calls nose to tail eating and this is what Quinto/Quarto is about: applying the whole animal approach to classic Roman-style cuisine.