Ricotta Gnocchi (Daring Cooks’ Challenge)

Okay, OKAY, I know.  The posting date for the newly-formed Daring Cooks is the 14th of the month.  Today is the 17th.  I could tell you my woeful tale about how I got stuck in lab extra late analyzing a ton of data on the 14th and then was out of town for the weekend and managed to leave my power cord at home so had to conserve battery power for data analysis and not for blog posting… but instead I’ll just sum it up this way: you get what you pay for.  I cook as a hobby, I blog as a hobby… and if the Daring Cooks want to kick me out because I couldn’t get my act together in time, well then so be it.

That said, May marked the first month of the Daring Cooks, and ricotta gnocchi was chosen for the inaugural recipe.  I’m not sure if it was perhaps because it was the first month and the goal is to ease everyone into the cooking challenges, but I found this month’s recipe to be a bit of a disappointment, because it was so… easy.  Sure, it took a bit of time (though not so much that it prevented me from making it on a weeknight), but there wasn’t really anything complicated, hard, or frankly, challenging about the recipe.  Or perhaps this just means that I have flexed my culinary muscles more than I thought in the past.

The gnocchi turned out fine, though I still prefer potato gnocchi to ricotta gnocchi.  I also ignored the suggestion from the recipe author to use fresh ricotta – I have no doubt that it would be more flavorful, but it is also more expensive, and considering we had a near marital battle in the supermarket two weeks ago over the cost of portobello mushrooms, I was NOT going to push any buttons by requesting fresh ricotta when I had a perfectly functional tub of generic ricotta in the refrigerator.  I did, however, use fat-free ricotta because it tends to be a bit drier than full fat, which was probably a good call on my behalf.

Ricotta Gnocchi
from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judi Rodgers

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ricotta
• 2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 or 3 fresh sage leaves, a few pinches of grated nutmeg, or a few pieces of lemon zest (optional)
• 1/2 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about 1/4 cup, lightly packed)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• all-purpose flour
• sauce of choice (I threw together a caramelized onion and basil tomato sauce)

Directions:

1. The day before preparing the gnocchi, the ricotta must be drained.  Line a sieve with paper towels and place the ricotta in the sieve.  Cover and let drain for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Place the drained ricotta in a large bowl and mash with a rubber spatula.  Add the lightly beaten eggs, the melted butter, the sage, nutmeg, or lemon zest (if using), Parmigiano-Reggiano, and salt.  Beat the ingredients together very well – the resulting dough should be soft and fluffy with no streaks.
3. Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil.  When boiling, salt generously and keep at a simmer.  In a large, shallow baking dish, make a bed of the all-purpose flour that is roughly 1/2 inch deep.  Using a tablespoon, scoop up 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter and use fingertips to gently push the ball of dough from the spoon into the flour.  Shake the dish to ensure that the flour covers the gnocchi.  Gently pick up the gnocchi and cradle it in your handle to form it into an oval, but do not squeeze it – resist the urge to over-handle the gnocchi, as ricotta gnocchi are far more delicate than potato gnocchi.
4. Gently place the gnocchi in the simmering water.  It will sink to the bottom of the pot, and then float to the surface.  From the time it floats to the surface, the gnocchi should be cooked until just firm – 3 to 5 minutes. 
   1. If the gnocchi begin to fall apart, the ricotta cheese was likely too wet.  Beat in a tablespoon of egg white into the batter.
   2. If the batter was fluffy but the test sample comes out too heavy and dense, add a teaspoon of beaten whole egg to the batter. 
5. Form the rest of the gnocchi.  Gnocchi can be cooked immediately, or stored in the refrigerator for one hour prior to boiling to allow them to firm up.  Repeat shaping, flouring, and boiling process, but be sure not to overcrowd the pot of water with too many gnocchi (I had to make mine in 4 or 5 batches).
6. With a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and gently drop into the sauce of choice.  Carefully roll in the sauce until coated.  Serve immediately.