Ricotta Gnocchi

With nothing planned for dinner last night, lots of inspiration from other food blogs, and plenty of time to google recipes at work, I decided to try to make gnocchi from scratch. Potato gnocchi is the most common type of gnocchi, but as we had eaten perogies the night before, it seemed a bit too similar, and I wanted to try something different. I remembered Anna making goat cheese gnocchi on an episode of Fresh, which I found the recipe for, but I guess I wasn't convinced because I eventually found a recipe for ricotta gnocchi on another blog. I think it was the description that caught my eye - the words "heaven in a bowl" and "takes less than 15 minutes to prepare" sealed the deal.


I didn't follow the recipe exactly (I used a whole egg instead of just the yolk), which is probably why they didn't turn out like the pictures I had seen. Mine were just a bit too mushy so it was hard to shape them and they didn't quite retain their form while boiling. However, they were delicious - very light and delicate, fluffy balls of ricotta goodness. I will definitely try the recipe again to improve on the appearance.


Ricotta Gnocchi
Yield: 2 servings
Print recipe

250 g Ricotta
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
30 g Parmigiano (or Pecorino), freshly grated
50-75 g all-purpose flour, extra for dusting the dough/board

1. Discard any excess liquid that the Ricotta's packaging may contain.


2. Add Ricotta cheese, egg yolk, salt and freshly grated Parmigiano into a large bowl. Mix well with a wooden or regular spoon.


3. Add the flour and stir in briefly, just until combined. The dough will still be quite sticky. (Avoid adding too much extra flour at this point because the more flour you use, the denser the gnocchi will become.)


4. To form the gnocchi, generously flour a board. Take a large spoonful of the dough and scoop it onto the board. Dust it with flour before rolling it into a finger-thick roll. Cut it into little pillows and place each gnoccho on a floured board or parchment paper-lined baking tray.


5. 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.


6. Serve with a simple tomato sauce, browned butter with fresh sage, or any kind of pesto.