Braised Lamb in Passata with Gnocchi - Potato Dumplings

It's cold cold winter here.
Time to use a lot of my slow cooker.

A dinner that can easily be prepared the night before.

This time, slow braised lamb in passata with gnocchi - the fluffy potato dumplings.

The night before, brown all sides of the meat (I'd love to be able to do it just before the slow cooking process starts, but as previous posts states, I start working roughly 7am every morning) and make a bouquet garni of parsley, bay leave, rosemary and mint.

The next day, cut the veggies, zucchini and fresh tomatos and an onion and 2 cloves of garlic, lay at the bottom of the slow cooker, add lamb pieces - shanks, and necks, and add passata, white wine and bouquet garni.

Let it cook for the day.

The job is then easy when I came home.  While the lamb is simmering, make gnocchi.

500g desiree potato with 100g flour plus extra to dust, will usually give my family enough potato gnocchis.  The children are not specific about the seashell shapes and they are happy with the rustic cuts.  Gnocchis don't take long to cook, and this is a lovely winter meal...