Ricotta Gnocchi

A couple of weeks ago, I saw this recipe for ricotta gnocchi and I was intrigued. I have a potato gnocchi dish that I make, in which I caramelise onions and bake them with the gnocchi and lots of cheese, but I had never taste ricotta gnocchi before. They sounded pleasantly light, unlike the starchy potato gnocchi, and not terribly difficult to make.

So the other night, before M and I headed out to meet a bunch of friends and colleagues at a pub for a pub quiz, I decided to make my version of Mark Bittman’s recipe. I used pecorino instead of parmesan, and I fried the gnocchi in parsley and mint rather than sage. The gnocchi were quite tasty, but filling, and in fact I still felt full when we returned home from the pub five hours later.

I don’t recommend making this recipe before going out, because you do get sticky and messy, plus the mixing, boiling, and frying might tire you out. Also, next time I make them, I will turn the oven on and keep the gnocchi warm in there after they’ve been fried, because I had to fry them in batches and the finished ones cooled down by the time the others were fried. I might also add grated lemon peel to the dough, because ricotta and lemon work together so well.

Ingredients:
250 g ricotta
2 eggs
1½ cups grated pecorino, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 cup flour
water for boiling
butter for frying
herbs (Mark Bittman uses sage, and I used parsley and mint)

Instructions:
1. Mix the ricotta, eggs, pecorino, and flour into a smooth dough.
2. Boil the water. Make little lumps out of the dough and drop them into the water. They are ready when they’ve floated to the top.
3. Fry the gnocchi in the butter and herbs.
4. Serve with a little extra pecorino on top.