SPINACH RICOTTA GNOCCHI

By BobD

Ingredients

• Ricotta Gnocchi:
• 1 1/2 pound ricotta
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1/3 cup pecorino
• 1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup chopped boiled spinach (squeeze out all moisture)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Tomato Sauce:
• 1 can Mutti cherry tomatoes
• 1 1/2 boiled carrots, mashed
• 4 small gloves of garlic lightly smashed
• 1/4 cup pecorino
• salt and pepper to taste
• Basil Oil:
• 2 loosely packed cups of washed basil
• 1 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from whatscook.in

Preparation

Step 1

Place ricotta, pecorino, nutmeg and whisked egg in large mixing bowl and gently fold. Squeeze out any residual moisture from spinach and chop to ensure that no large pieces remain (do not pulverize) then mix into ricotta mixture. Next fold in flour ¼ cup at a time. Continue to do so until dough is formed. Roll out onto lightly floured work surface and gently work dough for 1 minute. It will be wetter than most doughs but should not be sticking to your fingers. At this point, form dough into 4 orange-sized balls, wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator for 1 hour or until ready to use.

To make basil oil:
Add basil, oil and salt to a food processor and puree until smooth. Set oil aside or place in refrigerator. You may notice some separation but a good shake will homogenize the ingredients.

To form the gnocchi:
Flour your hands lightly. Using both hands, and a light touch, roll the dough out with a back-and-forth motion, starting at the center and stretching the dough out, to form a roll. You don't want to put too much pressure so that you compress the dough, but you do need enough pressure to create a rope of dough. Once the segment you are working on gets to be about a foot long, you may find it easier to cut it in half, and then start working on that smaller segment.

Roll the dough out until the roll is about the size of a middle finger. (Note that if your hands, or the board, is a little too floured, you may not have enough traction between your skin and the dough to easily stretch it sideways.) Cut each roll into 1-inch pieces. Gnocchi can be presented in this simple cut style or with an indentation by using a fork.

To make indented gnocchi:
Hold a fork at a 45-degree angle with its tines facing down on the work board, the curved part of the fork facing away from you. Starting with the curved outside bottom of the fork, press each piece of dough up along the length of the tines. Let the gnocchi fall back down. This is a pretty quick motion; the result is an indentation of the fork tines on one side of the gnocchi, and an indentation of your fingertip on the other side. Place the gnocchi on a lightly floured cookie sheet. At this point they can be cooked, or kept in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.

To make the sauce:
Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add garlic and cook until lightly golden but not browned. Next add the tomatoes (include all juice from can) and bring to a boil. Tomatoes will naturally burst as they cook but some will maintain their shape which adds a nice contrast in texture to the sauce. Mix in mashed carrots, salt and pepper to taste and reduce heat to low and let simmer while you cook the gnocchi.

To cook the gnocchi:
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil at which point you should add enough salt so that the water tastes “like the sea”. Next, gently drop the gnocchi in the water, one by one. The gnocchi should not fall on top of each other, but rest on the bottom of the pot in a single layer. As the gnocchi cook, they will rise to the surface of the water at which point they should immediately be removed using a slotted spoon and placed in the saucepan with the tomato sauce.

To finish the dish, sprinkle gnocchi in sauce with freshly grated pecorino and drizzle with basil oil. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary and serve.