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Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi

With Orange, Sage, and Brown Butter Sauce and a Watercress and Blood Orange Salad

From the book Cooking for Two by Jessica Strand

Serves

Introduction

Gnocchi are usually made from cooked potatoes and flour, and though they’re one of my favorite Italian dishes, they can be leaden and heavy if made incorrectly. Here’s a lighter method for making a different kind of gnocchi that are delicious and foolproof.

Ingredients

Gnocchi

	2	cups fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese, drained in a sieve for 2 to 3 hours
	1⅓	cups freshly grated Parmesan
	2	large eggs
	¼	cup all-purpose flour
	½	tsp. salt, plus more to taste
	~	Freshly grated nutmeg

Salad

	2	Tbsp. olive oil
	2	tsp. balsamic vinegar
	2	bunches watercress, cleaned and stemmed
	½	tsp. freshly grated and finely chopped blood-orange zest, plus the peeled and sliced segments from 1 blood orange (about 12 to 16 sections)
	~	Pepper to taste

Sauce

	4	Tbsp. unsalted butter
	10	fresh sage leaves

Steps

Prep the gnocchi: In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, and flour. Add the salt and nutmeg and keep mixing until a soft dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into two long 14- to 16-inch ropes (each about 1 inch in diameter); sprinkle with flour if the dough is too sticky. Cut each rope into 18 to 20 pieces. Press the tines of a fork into each piece to create an indentation. Arrange the finished gnocchi on a piece of parchment or waxed paper next to the stove.
Make the salad: In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add the watercress and blood-orange segments. Toss until the leaves and oranges are coated in the dressing. Season with pepper to taste.
Make the gnocchi: Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add the gnocchi in two batches, cooking each batch for 5 to 6 minutes or until the gnocchi begin to expand and rise to the surface of the water.
Make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter, then add the sage leaves and let brown for 2 to 3 minutes, or until crispy. Set the leaves aside to drain on a paper towel.
Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in the same saucepan. Add the blood-orange zest to the butter and continue to cook the butter until it is light brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cooked gnocchi to the sauce, carefully spooning the sauce over them.
Assemble the salad and gnocchi: On two large dinner plates, place a large pillow of greens dotted with the blood oranges, and next to them place 10 to 12 of the gnocchi. Drizzle the gnocchi with the brown butter and garnish with the crispy sage leaves, then serve.

Notes

To enjoy leftover gnocchi, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon water in a small skillet. Add the gnocchi, cover, and cook 1 to 2 minutes to heat through. Toss with chopped fresh tomatoes and herbs as desired.

This content is from the book Cooking for Two by Jessica Strand.

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There are 8 comments on this item

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Average Rating 4

62% recommend this recipe

1. by maggie on Jan 14, 2009 at 10:51 AM PST

This sounds so good!

2. by foodgeek on Jan 14, 2009 at 11:03 AM PST

Oh yum. I made gnocchi from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe last month, but this looks fabulous. Blood oranges would be a great contrasting flavor.

3. by jmdruadh on Jan 14, 2009 at 11:18 AM PST

I’ve been obsessed with ricotta gnocchi for the last six months, and butter & sage is one of my favorite toppings. They’re more tender than the potato kind, and they stick with me longer. I ran out of all-purpose flour one day and made them with durhum semolina flour instead, and they came out even lighter.

4. by ptreskovich on Jan 23, 2009 at 7:34 AM PST

recipes for two is a good idea for people alone or just 2 in the family

5. by Jamie Olsen on Mar 3, 2009 at 10:45 AM PST

Great recipe and really fun to make! I also found a recipe for homemade ricotta on epicurious.com and used that for this recipe. Tasty, indulgent, fun and goes wonderfully with the blood orange cocktail recipe, also on culinate!

6. by anonymous on Sep 30, 2009 at 6:12 AM PDT

I made this dish the other night, and I’m not sure how anyone can make it with simply 1/4 cup of flour. It seems impossible to me. I make potato gnocchi quite often, so I felt comfortable switching my potatoes for ricotta, but I bet I used about 1 cup of flour. At least for me the dough would have been way to sticky with only 1/4 cup of flour. So I really needed to add more to make it pliable. Secondly, how can this be a recipe for two? My wife and I had a big batch the first night (at least 12 oz - which I think is plenty for two) and I had to freeze the rest for another night. I’m guessing there’s more than 12 oz. left. Anyway, just wanted to give a heads up to others interested in making this dish.

7. by oregon foodie on Jan 19, 2010 at 8:04 PM PST

I agree with the previous comment -- I think there must be an error in the amount of flour listed. I used a total of one cup. I let the ricotta drain in a sieve for 4 hrs and very little liquid came out. The gnocchi was delicious! I froze half, as it made enough for four people.

8. by Liz Kroboth on Feb 1, 2011 at 11:08 PM PST

Very, very tasty. Next time we make it I will squeeze a little orange juice from the blood orange into the butter sauce itself. Some of the juice from the salad made its way over to the gnocchi, which I found to really enhance the flavor.

Like the previous reviewers, we ended up using more flour than called for - probably about 3/4 cup.

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