Last night I made ricotta gnocchi. Several weeks ago I bought some at Whole Foods. It was premade, and it was good, but the reviews I read online said homemade was so much better. They were right! This was so light like pillows and they melted in our mouths. Plus they were super easy to do. Now I am soo not a pasta maker. I do not enjoy making pasta so I don't. This however was so easy, that I will be making it often.
16 oz Ricotta Cheese Part Skim
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup Parmesan freshly grated
1 cup unbleached flour, + extra for dusting the dough/board
That is the basic recipe.
I added finely chopped basil from my garden, about 1/3 cup. You can add any fresh herb you like, or even some spices that you like.
Discard any excess liquid that the Ricotta’s packaging may contain, then add Ricotta cheese, egg yolk, salt and freshly grated Parmigiano and any herbs into a large bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Now add the flour and stir in briefly, just until combined – the dough will still be quite sticky. (Of course you can add more flour at this point, but keep in mind, that the more flour you use, the denser the gnocchi become in the end. And you want them to be as light & fluffy as possible, with a velvet-like texture.)
Generously flour a board, take a big tablespoon of the dough and scoop it onto the board. It gets dusted with flour (dust your hands generously, too!), before rolling it into a finger-thick roll. Cut it into little pillows (stick the knife’s blade into the flour to prevent it from sticking to the dough). Then place each gnoccho on a floured board or parchment paper lined baking tray.
Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a generous pinch of salt and reduce heat until the water bubbles lightly. Add the gnocchi and stir once, so they don’t stick to the bottom – then let cook until they start floating on top. Depending on their size this may take 2 to 4 minutes. Take out with a skimmer and serve immediately.
Last night I served these with a mushroom cream sauce I made. But these will go well with just about any kind of sauce. Tomato, pesto, mushroom etc. Just be sure your sauce is done at the same time so you can quickly toss the gnocchi in it and serve.
