photo by george billard
Gnocchi means “lumps” in Italian. Not an especially glamorous name, and I can’t say the ones I made were nearly as ethereal in texture as those we ate at Union Square Cafe (see 12/18 post). This traditional Italian dish has been around for a couple of thousand years at least, spread through Europe by the Roman Legions and made according to whatever was at hand: potatoes, wheat flour, semolina, bread crumbs, ricotta. The French even make a version with choux pastry, but that’s neither here nor there. I made mine with a delicious sheep’s-milk ricotta and served them with a rosemary-infused brown butter, but I suspect they may have suffered slightly because I used gluten-free flour. They were perhaps not as light and springy as they will be for you, using unbleached all-purpose. Next time, I may try gnudi instead, as they call for less flour (but also require that you drain the cheese and refrigerate the dough at several points), or perhaps just pair the gnocchi with a heartier sauce (roasted tomato? porcini mushroom?) that can stand up to the slightly denser gluten-free texture.
We ate ours with a simple salad of mixed greens tossed with a few oil-cured black olives and a dressing of champagne vinegar, dijon mustard and walnut oil. Since it was just the two of us, I froze half of the gnocchi. Put any you aren’t eating now right into the freezer on the baking sheet. Once they’ve firmed up considerably, pop them into a ziplock bag and freeze. They’re best eaten within the month.
Ricotta Gnocchi
from Gourmet, April 2008
serves 4
- 2 cups whole-milk ricotta (I use sheep's milk ricotta)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup plus 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano divided
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (Bob's Red Mill gluten-free worked pretty well)
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1 (2-inch) rosemary sprig
- Stir together ricotta, eggs, 1 cup cheese, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add flour, stirring to form a soft, wet dough.
- Shape dough on a well-floured surface with lightly floured hands into two (or more) 1-inch-thick ropes. Cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces with a lightly floured knife. Put in a single layer on a lightly floured parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Cook gnocchi in 2-3 batches in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water), stirring occasionally, until cooked through (they'll come bobbing to the surface), about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain in colander.
- Meanwhile, cook butter with rosemary in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Toss gnocchi with brown butter in skillet and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Season with salt.
