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How To Make Ricotta Gnocchi

Soft fluffy gnocchi are one of my favourite comfort foods so when I heard they can be made with ricotta instead of potato I couldn’t wait to try it. The principle is the same and if anything this recipe is more forgiving than potato gnocchi because the ricotta cheese seems to help bind up the gnocchi when they are cooked. I served my first batch tossed through some fresh basil pesto but next time I’m going to try a simple tomato sauce – I think they needed a bit more zing. I’ve also seen these made as spinach and ricotta gnocchi with the addition of some chopped blanched or frozen spinach to the dough.

Ingredients

  • 500g/1lb ricotta cheese. Look for the stuff that comes by the wedge or wheel instead of the gluggy stuff you sometimes get in a tub. The gluggy stuff works but needs more flour added, so the gnocchi will be a little chewier.
  • 1 tbsp grated parmesan
  • about 1/2 cup plain flour
  • a grind of salt and pepper
  • optionally, a pinch of garlic powder

Method

Mix cheeses and seasoning together in a bowl.

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Add just enough flour so that the dough can be worked easily and be formed into shapes. It should be smooth but not dry. For the drained ricotta I found, 1/2 cup of flour was about right for half a kilo of ricotta.

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Roll pieces of dough into a snake about the thickness of your finger. Cut each snake into lengths about twice that width.

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The pieces can be cooked now, but it helps sauce stick to the gnocchi if they are given some texture. This is traditionally done by rolling each piece over a ridged board with your thumb. The result is a slightly hollow shell with lines around the outside. I use a ridged gnocchi board like these ones on Amazon. Alternatives are to use the back of a fork, or a cheese grater – all work well.

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Using a gnocchi board, push away with your thumb

 

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The gnocchi curls around your thumb, creating a depression and ridges for the sauce to cling to!
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Instead of a gnocchi board, a cheese grater works…

 

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…or the tines of a fork.

To cook, bring a big pan of water to the boil with a good dash of salt. Cook batches of as many as will fit in the pan in a layer. Cook for a minute or so after they bob to the surface before removing with a strainer. If moving to a dish to serve I find it best to drizzle some oil or butter into the dish first to stop the gnocchi sticking together.

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Walnut Pesto

Pesto is a beautiful sauce combining fresh basil, garlic and parmesan with a base of nuts and oil. Tangy and flavourful, if you need an excuse to grow some basil plants this is it! Pesto goes well on pizza or pasta and makes a great dip to serve with cheese and crackers. I use walnuts here but any nut can be used really – pine nuts are used in a lot of traditional recipes. Lightly toast the nuts first by tossing them in a pan over low-medium heat until just starting to change colour. Pine nuts burn very easily and taste awful when burnt, so keep an eye on them. A food processor works well but I like using a mortar and pestle – after all the words pesto and pestle share a root word. If a food processor is used I suggest blending cheese and nuts first until the consistency of bread crumbs, then adding oil and lemon juice and finally the basil, pulsing until the basil is in small pieces – don’t take it so far that there’s no specks of basil left.

Depending on the ingredients on hand flat leaf parsley can also be added. Lemon is not completely traditional but I like the extra kick of flavour, and it makes up for not using as much raw garlic as some recipes.

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Ingredients

  • 1-3 cloves of garlic, to taste
  • 1 chunk of parmesan or grana padano cheese, around 50g/2 oz
  • a handful of toasted walnuts, pine nuts or other neutral flavoured nuts.
  • 1/3 cup good olive oil
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 1 good bunch of fresh basil
  • salt

Method

Pick basil leaves off any large stems. Dice or grate the cheese. Add a pinch of salt, nuts, garlic, cheese and basil to a large mortar.

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Start pounding and stirring until the ingredients are fairly well broken down and mixed together.

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Add olive oil and lemon juice and continue to mix. until the mixture is fairly smooth.

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Cheesy Polenta Fritters

This recipe is another that I was eager to try from Artusi’s cookbook. I don’t know if I’ve got it exactly as described in the book yet but it’s a delicious late night munchie as much as a great idea for an appetiser. The recipe is as simple as a slice of cheese between 2 discs of polenta, dipped in crumbs and fried. This is a good appetiser to have up your sleeve as it is very easy to make gluten free – instead of using bread crumbs, either use dry polenta or a gluten free bread crumb,  I use one called corn crispy crumbs that I actually prefer to regular bread crumbs. Or you can leave it un-crumbed and just fry the polenta directly which also works well.

  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup polenta
  • 1 tbsp grated parmesan
  • about 100g gruyere or other tasty swiss cheese, sliced
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs

To make the polenta mix milk, water, polenta and parmesan in a large microwave save container – I use a ceramic casserole dish. The parmesan is optional but the polenta may be a littlebland without it. Stir well and set aside for a few minutes to start soaking up the water. Microwave the bowl of polenta for 4 minutes, remove and stir well. Wear oven mitts as the bowl and steam are very hot. Return to the microwave for another 2 minutes, remove and stir, then a final 2 minutes. Spoon out a little bit, blow on it and taste to make sure it is creamy. If still at all gritty it can be microwaved a little longer.

Pour out the polenta onto a large oiled chopping board or baking tray. Use a wet knife or the back of a spoon to flatten the surface as much as possible – Artusi says to “spread it out to the thickness of barely half a finger”. Mines a little too thick here. Allow to cool and set – it’s a little faster in the fridge.

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When set, use a cookie cutter to cut out circles of polenta.

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Lay a slice of gruyere or other cheese between 2 discs to make little sandwiches.

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Crack an egg into a bowl, beat lightly and pour crumbs into another bowl. Dip each sandwich into egg, then crumbs. Fry in a good glug of olive oil. I find anything crumbed is always best fried over fairly moderate heat so that it can cook through without the crumbs burning.

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So far we’ve just wolfed these down out of the pan but I think they’d be good with a sauce too – maybe some kind of chutney?

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