Hey! Remember that post a couple days ago where I told you how simple it was to make your own ricotta? Well, I kind of shot myself in the foot because I ended up with almost a pound of ricotta and no plans for it. Ricotta doesn’t last forever, so I froze mine while out of town this weekend (shhhh… don’t tell the cheese gods this… they would strip me of my foodie status immediately!). Today I thawed it for this ricotta gnocchi recipe. Gnocchi is usually too pasty for me. This ricotta gnocchi was totally different and was a real winner! With mostly cheese and only a bit of flour to hold it together, these little pillows stayed fluffy all the way to the table! And did I mention that from start to finish this recipe takes only 20 minutes to make? Weeknight meal score!
You absolutely must fry these gnocchi after you boil them! Since crunchy is my favorite texture, there’s no other way to eat this! It’s delicious with a brown butter sage sauce (recipe included below), but you could also just serve it with butter and fresh herbs or even a tomato cream sauce. If you try this recipe, leave me a note in the comments letting me know how you chose to top yours!
Source:
gnocchi recipe: The Flour Sack brown butter sage sauce: heavily adapted from Food Network
These gnocchi can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes and are delicious with a brown butter sage sauce!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat a pot of salted water over the stove over high heat.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl until just combined. You want the mixture to be wet, but not sticky. You also want it to remain very fluffy, so don't overwork the dough.
- Flour a work surface and grab a fist-sized ball of the dough. Roll it into a 1" snake and then cut the dough into 3/4" segments. Place on a lightly floured plate. Repeat with remaining gnocchi dough.
- Dump half the gnocchi in the water and watch as most of them rise to the surface. Let boil for one minute longer. Strain. Repeat with the second half of the gnocchi.
- Heat half of the olive oil in a large sautee pan over medium heat until almost smoking. Add half the gnocchi and let sit until browned on one side. Flip the gnocchi over and let brown on the other side. Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining gnocchi. Make the brown butter sage sauce (recipe below) in the same pan, or top the gnocchi with butter and fresh herbs or with a tomato cream sauce.
- Heat the pan to medium-low. Add the butter and after it's half melted, add the salt and nutmeg, stirring constantly. When the butter has fully melted and is very hot, add the sage. Reduce the heat to low and add the sugar. Stir continually until sage has crisped and sugar is dissolved. Serve immediately over hot gnocchi or ravioli.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking // Sep 28, 2011 at 6:13 am
Paula, these gnocchi look incredible! I love the ricotta filling you used and the brown butter sage sauce has really got my mouth watering. Lovely recipe, thanks for sharing.
2 Nicole@HeatOvenTo350 // Sep 28, 2011 at 7:46 am
I had ricotta gnocchi a few months ago at a restaurant and it was so good. I’ve been meaning to make some ever since, but haven’t. Now that I know it is so fast, I’ll have to give it a try!
3 Russell at Chasing Delicious // Sep 28, 2011 at 9:08 am
What a cool recipe! I will say I do love all things gnocchi but I don’t think I’ve ever had ricotta gnocchi! Changing that soon.
4 Anna // Sep 28, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Of course mine would be…cheese, cheese, cheese and more cheese! Great recipe…Can’t wait to try it later…
5 Reem | Simply Reem // Sep 28, 2011 at 9:56 pm
These gnocchi’s look so good and so yummy…
Sage butter adds even more deliciousness to these..
Lovely…
6 Jenny @ Savour the Senses // Sep 29, 2011 at 10:10 am
I have made potato gnocchi and butternut squash gnocchi, but never cheese gnocchi. I want to try this! Looks so good!
7 Shumaila // Sep 29, 2011 at 6:13 pm
I have never tried gnocchi after hearing not so goodreviews from my friends who have tried it. But yours looks good and the brown butter sage sauce sounds delish!
8 Jennifer @ Mother Thyme // Sep 29, 2011 at 7:54 pm
I am thrilled to have found your site! I was at the market today looking at gnocchi and past on getting it figuring I would attempt to make it and thru FB I found you and your site and this marvelous recipe! Can’t wait to try!
9 Jean // Jan 25, 2012 at 8:15 pm
These looked awesome but I ended up throwing them out. They had this weird texture thing, where you put one in your mouth and its just sort of disintegrated….. The actual gnocchi has no flavor…just flour, ricotta and an egg, not much going on there. I’m ordering a pizza.
10 Paula // Jan 25, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Jean- I’m so sorry you did not like these! I am a texture person, so I totally understand your texture woes. I didn’t find that my gnocchi had a weird texture, though. Hmmm…. I wonder if there is some difference? Maybe my homemade ricotta was different than yours? I don’t know. Anyway, I’m sorry this recipe did not work for you!
11 Laur // Nov 18, 2012 at 5:20 pm
If you overcook these, they will disintegrate. I make them often, and you have to cook them just right. Both sauces are delicious, the browned sage and the tomato cream. I did a search for this recipe as my subscription from Cooks Illustrated expired which is where I got the original recipe, and I hoped I could find it listed elsewhere, which brings me here. Specifically I wanted the tomato cream recipe at the end of it, but I see it’s not here, alas!