Everyone knows Gnocchi.... the tradtional northern italian potato pasta. It is heavy and delicious almost like a dumpling. The perfect wintertime treat.
Well, in Florence they do it differently - Ricotta Gnocchi. Its light, fluffy, and delicious. Here is my version of the recipe.
You will need about 16 ounces of the ricotta that you made, or 16 ounces of a high quality ricotta from the store. Depending on how wet your rictta is you may need to drain it. If your ricotta is very wet (sometimes the homemade kind is) place it in some cheese cloth and press it. Try to get as much liquid out as possible.
Add one egg to your ricotta once you have it dry. The egg is the "binder" in your pasta. Fold in about 3/4-1cup of a dry cheese like parmesan (more mild) or pecorino if youre looking for a bolder flavor. Season your dough with salt, black pepper, and if you want a chiffonade of fresh parsely.
You will also need about 3/4 to 1 cup of CAKE flour. Cake flour is lower in gluten and will result in a lighter gnocchi. Fold in the cake flour with the cheese mixture. Do this slowly as you may not need all the flour - or you may need more. Gnocchi is really something you learn to make by "feel"
My method is this - form the "dough" into a big ball and put it on the table. Poke your finger into the ball and pull it back out. If your finger leaves a dent and but the dough still feels a bit sticky you've got it right.
Be sure not to overwork your dough as it will get tough. The best way to make gnocchi for the first time is by trial and error and a little bit of patience. Before you even start rolling your dough get a large pot of boiling SALTED water going so you can test your pasta. Once you have your dough the way you think you want it sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and roll out logs of dough about 3/4" thick. Cut the dough into 3/4" long pieces. I then like to pinch the dough into a little "pillow" shape. I find it holds the sauce better and looks cute! Put one gnocchi into the boiling water and wait until it starts to float. Once it floats another 2-3 minutes and you're ready to test. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon or a "spider." Taste it. If it falls apart in your mouth you may need a little more flour. If its too "doughy" maybe you over-did it and should add some more cheese. Like I said, making gnocchi for the first time is trial and error. So, adjust as needed and then finish cooking your gnocchi.
Once all your gnocchi is cooked remove it from the water and toss with a little bit of olive or canola oil. I like to lay it out in a single layer so it doesn't stick together. The gnocchi is best served right after cooking but you can also refrigerate it for a couple days.
For this delicately flavored gnocchi you don't want to drown it in a heavy sauce. Ricotta combines very nicely with fresh peas so I would reccomend making a pea coulis to accompany the gnocchi.
For the coulis you will need fresh or frozen peas and a nice vegetable stock. Simply blend the peas and the vegetable stock until you get a nice nappe consistency. Then strain through a fine mesh strainer and season with salt and black pepper. If you want to make the sauce a bit more rich you can also blend in some butter until it emulsifies.
When you're ready to serve heat some olive oil in a pan and add the gnocchi. Saute until they begin to crisp lightly on the outside. Add your sauce and rehduce the heat so your sauce doesn't break (especially if you added butter). You can serve the gnocchi just like this or you can go one step further... and I think you'll want to.
Split ripe heirloom tomatoes in half and sear on the grill until nice marks form. Set aside until they cool and remove the skin. Roughly chop the tomatoes and fold in thinly slice garlic, basil, salt, and black pepper. Form a mound of grilled tomato mixture in the bottom of a bowl and top with the hot gnocchi and pea coulis.
Delicious.
Note- the gnocchi above is shown with a piece of cripsed parmesan cheese and micro opal basil as garnish.
