Mushroom Ragu with Potato Gnocchi

***RECIPE, SERVES 2-3***

• 1 Russett or other mealy potato
• flour (about as much as the cooked potato, by volume, but it depends)
• 1 oz (28g) dried mushrooms
• 1/2 lb ( 227g) fresh mushrooms, ideally lion's mane or another shreddable variety
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 1-2 fresh tomatoes (or a small can of tomatoes)
• 1-2 shallots (or half an onion)
• wine (optional)
• soy sauce (optional)
• vinegar (optional)
• tomato paste
• oil
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder (optional)
• other herbs and spices you want for the sauce
• a garlic clove, lemon and some fresh herbs for the gremolata garnish

1. Bring a couple cups of water to a boil (I use the microwave), take it off the heat, stir in the dry mushrooms and let steep while you do other stuff.
2. Peel the potato, cut it in to chunks and get it boiling until mashably soft.
3. Cut or shred the mushrooms into biggish chunks, keeping in mind they'll shrink by half. Pour a little water in a hot pan and use it to "fry" the fresh mushrooms until they have softened and release their own water. When the pan is about dry, pour in some oil and fry the mushrooms until brown.
4. While the mushrooms are going, you can chop up your carrot, celery and onion/shallots into small bits that'll cook reasonably fast. When the mushrooms are brown, stir in those vegetables (you'll probably need some more oil) and fry them until soft, using their water to deglaze any mushroom fond at the bottom of the pan.
5. Stir a big squeeze of tomato paste into the mushroom pan, fry it for a minute, then deglaze with wine or water. Chop up the fresh tomatoes and stir them in. Fish out the dried mushrooms (reserving the steeping liquid), chop them up finely and stir them in. Pour in the steeping liquid, holding back the last little bit at the bottom that might contain some sand.
6. Whenever the potato chunks are soft, strain the boiling water directly into the sauce. Season the sauce a bit and just simmer it until thick, stirring frequently to make sure nothing is sticking on the bottom where it might burn. Add more water if necessary as you cook.
7. To make the gnocchi while the sauce simmers, mash up the potato, combine with a roughly equal volume of flour, a big pinch of salt and maybe some garlic powder. Knead and add more flour if necessary until you have a dough that will roll out into a snake without breaking. Roll it out into a snake and cut into gnocchi, keeping each piece separate so they don't stick to each other.
8. When your sauce is thick, taste it and consider adding more seasoning, a splash of vinegar, etc. If you need salt, consider a dash of soy sauce to also reinforce the umami of the mushrooms.
9. Drop the gnocchi directly into the simmering sauce, keeping them separate as they go in. Once in the hot sauce, you can stir them without fear of them sticking. Stir them in, along with any additional water to keep the sauce texture good as the gnocchi thicken it, and simmer a few minutes until the gnocchi noticeably plump a bit.
10. While you wait, you could make some gremolata for garnish by finely chopping a garlic clove, the zest of a lemon and some parsley (or other fresh herb) into each other until fine and all mixed up together.
11. Serve the gnocchi in bowls or plates and top with a sprinkle of the gremolata while still hot, so the garlic cooks slightly.