Sausage, Kale & White Bean Gnocchi

Ingredients

• 6 pork sausages, skins removed
• 350 ml chicken stock
• 400 g white beans, drained
• 500 g gnocchi
• 100 g kale, thick stalks removed
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 120 g double cream
• 40 g parmesan, grated
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve
• Fresh basil, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan or shallow casserole over a medium-high heat. Season the sausage meat well with salt and pepper before it hits the pan — this is your only chance to season the meat itself.
2. Pinch small spoonfuls of sausage meat into the pan in a single layer and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking them up a little, until deeply browned and caramelised at the edges. Don't crowd the pan — work in two batches if you need to. All at once and the pan floods with water and you've boiled the meat instead of browning it, and you lose the dark sticky bits on the base that make this dish.
3. Drop the heat to medium and add the shallots, stirring through the sausage fond for about 4 minutes until softened and translucent. Stir in the garlic and chilli flakes and cook for just 30 seconds, until fragrant — watch it, burnt garlic turns the whole sauce bitter.
4. Tip in the gnocchi and pour over the chicken stock, scraping up the brown stuck bits from the base of the pan — that's where the flavour lives. Bring to a simmer.
5. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until the gnocchi are plump and pillowy and the stock has reduced to a glossy sauce that coats the back of a spoon.
6. Drop the heat to low and stir through the Greek yoghurt and white beans — low heat matters, or the yoghurt splits. Fold in the kale and let it wilt into the sauce for 2 to 3 minutes, until just tender but still vivid green.
7. Scatter over the parmesan and finish with a generous grind of black pepper. Taste, season, taste again — adjust now, not at the table.
8. Spoon straight into bowls, scatter the torn basil over the top, and tuck a piece of crusty ciabatta alongside to mop up the edges.