Light and Fluffy Ricotta Gnocchi

RICOTTA GNOCCHI INGREDIENTS:

To make this ricotta gnocchi recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• Whole milk ricotta cheese: Try to buy the best-quality brand available.  We will then drain the ricotta quickly on paper towels to remove some of its excess moisture.
• Flour
• Egg yolks: Three of them!
• Parmesan cheese: Freshly-grated for maximum flavor.
• Salt and pepper: Of course. :)

RICOTTA GNOCCHI EQUIPMENT:

This recipe doesn’t require any special equipment!  You will just need a:

• Mixing bowl: To mix up the dough.
• Knife or bench scraper: To cut the gnocchi.
• Stockpot: Or some sort of large pot to boil water and cook the gnocchi.

HOW TO MAKE GNOCCHI:

Alright, moving onto how to make gnocchi!  With ricotta version, you don’t have to mess with the extra time and dishes required to boil and peel potatoes.  Instead, just simply:

1. Drain the ricotta: Instead of waiting 30 minutes for your ricotta to drain through a strainer, simply sandwich it between a few paper towels (sort of like how you drain tofu) and gently press so that the paper towels soak up the excess moisture.
2. Mix your dough ingredients. Stir the drained ricotta and eggs together, then mix in the flour, Parm, salt and pepper until combined.
3. Roll out and cut the dough.  Shape the dough into a round disk with your hands, then transfer it to a lightly-floured cutting board and sprinkle the dough with lightly with flour.  Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into eight even pie wedges.  Then using your hands, gently roll out each wedge out into an even log, approximately 3/4-inch wide.  Cut each log into individual bite-sized little gnocchi squares.  Lightly dust the gnocchi with flour once more and give them a quick toss so that they are all lightly coated with flour.  (This will help prevent them from sticking together.)
4. Boil the gnocchi. Carefully transfer them to your pot of boiling water.  Then once they float — usually after about 30-60 seconds — they’re ready to go!
5. Serve.  Serve immediately, tossed with your favorite sauce and whatever other ingredients sound good!

HOW TO SERVE GNOCCHI:

There are endless ways that you can serve gnocchi!  I typically like to either:

• Toss gnocchi with a good sauce. Anything from a good tomato sauce, to a cream sauce, fresh basil pesto, brown butter sauce, or whatever sounds good to you!
• Make gnocchi “mac” and cheese. I also love subbing gnocchi in for pasta to make a batch of “gnocchi and cheese”.
• Toast (fry) your gnocchi. If you would like your gnocchi to be a bit crispier, just boil and drain them as usual.  Then pan-fry them in a few tablespoons of oil or butter for a few minutes until their edges are browned and crispy.
• Add them to a soup. Gnocchi are also work great as little dumplings in soups of all kinds!  Feel free to add them (uncooked) directly into your soup broth.  Or you are welcome to cook the gnocchi first in a separate stockpot, and then add them to your soup.

20-MINUTE RICOTTA GNOCCHI

•  prep time: 19 MINUTES
•  cook time: 1 MINUTES
•  total time: 20 MINUTES
•  yield: 3 -4 SERVINGS 1X

DESCRIPTION

The easiest homemade gnocchi recipe — made with just 4 main ingredients in 20 minutes (no potatoes required!), and just as light and delicious as ever!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups (one 15-ounce container) whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup (about 4 ounces)  all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (about 1 ounce) freshly-grated Parmesan
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prep the water: Bring a large stockpot of generously-salted water to a boil over high heat.
2. Drain the ricotta: While your water is heating, place 3-4 paper towels on a large plate and spread the ricotta on the paper towels in an even layer.  Place another layer of 3-4 paper towels on top of the ricotta.  Then press down gently to let the excess moisture soak into the paper towels, trying to soak up as much of the excess liquid as possible.  Transfer the ricotta to a large mixing bowl.  (If it sticks to the paper towels, just use a rubber spatula to scrape it off.)  The drained ricotta should now weigh about 12 ounces.
3. Mix your dough ingredients. Add the egg yolks to the ricotta and stir briefly to combine.  Add in the flour, Parmesan, salt and pepper, and stir until evenly combined.  Avoid over-mixing.  The dough will be a bit moist and maybe a bit sticky, but it should be holding together well.  If it feels too wet, just add in another few tablespoons of flour.
4. Roll out and cut the dough.  Shape the dough into a round disk with your hands, then transfer it to a lightly-floured cutting board and sprinkle the dough with lightly with flour.  Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into eight even pie wedges.  Using your hands, gently roll out each wedge out into an even log, approximately 3/4-inch wide.  Cut each log into individual bite-sized little gnocchi squares.  Lightly dust the gnocchi with flour once more and give them a quick toss so that they are all lightly coated with flour.  (This will help prevent them from sticking together.)
5. Boil the gnocchi. Carefully transfer the gnocchi to the boiling water to cook.  Then once they float — usually after 30 seconds or so — drain the gnocchi.
6. Serve.  Serve immediately, tossed with your favorite sauce and whatever other ingredients sound good!