http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/07/09/pan-fried-lemon-ricotta-gnocchi
Before then I thought that all gnocchi was made with a potato or other vegetable base. The great thing about ricotta gnocchi is that there's no vegetable to cook and mash first. Also I find them much harder to mess up. My potato ones always come out doughier than I would like.
I've stopped measuring when I make them, but here is an approximate recipe. The recipe in the link above is a delicious lemony alternative.
1lb whole milk ricotta
2 egg yolks
1/2 parmesan cheese
1-1 1/2 cups flour - the dough should be somewhat firm and dense, but still a bit sticky
a big pinch of salt
Mix everything together is a big bowl, and then make long logs of dough around 3/4 an in in diameter. Now you have a choice, The link above suggests immediately cutting them up and pan frying them in butter. I have also found recipes that call for putting them in boiling water. The third option, which is what I used today, is to do both. I wrapped the logs individually in plastic wrap, and put them in a pot of boiling water for around 7 or 8 minutes. Afterwards, I took them out of the plastic wrap, chopped them into little cubes and seared them. I find the advantage of this technique is that they get crispy on the outside, but you don't need to leave them in the oil or butter for too long to cook and so they're a bit less greasy. No technique is better than the other, its all about what you're in the mood for. I think for the picture behind the title of the blog I skipped boiling and just sauteed them in butter.
I wanted a somewhat lighter sauce, so I took half of a cabbage which we have been trying to get rid of and boiled it till soft with some salt and garlic. I then took out the water, and pureed it with a bit of milk, salt, pepper, basil and garlic powder.
Unfortunately I forgot the people who ate it picture.
Last night when I was out to dinner, I had a truffled polenta gnocci....yum! Lets try some polenta gnocci sometime soon. I wonder what else we could make them from...I never knew that gnocci had so much leeway!
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