Ricotta gnocchi is my latest culinary obsession. Unlike the traditional potato, flour, and egg gnocchi recipes, ricotta gnocchi is really easy and also not very hard to mess up. Since gluten immediately causes nausea for me, I decided to search for a gluten-free flour that would work for this recipe. I found a white rice flour by Bob’s Red Mill that kicks ass for this purpose and makes a really nice light and fluffy gluten-free gnocchi. Another plus, the ricotta adds some protein to an otherwise all-carb dish. Finally, I would like to give Gar a shoutout because he is the one who came up with the method I use for shaping the gnocchi. So here it goes:
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 and 1/4 cup white rice flour
Semolina flour for dusting work surfaces
Add the first 5 ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the flour in 3-4 parts, stirring with a rubber spatula. Add the dough (does not need to rest) into a piping bag or a gallon sized Ziploc bag and cut a corner of the bag to create a hole approximately 1/2 inch wide. Next, pipe strips of the dough onto a surface dusted with semolina flour. If you’re not happy how your first log comes out, just put it back in the bag and try again. Cut and separate pieces of gnocchi about 3/4 inch long. At this point, you can plop your gnocchi into a pot of salted, boiling water for about two minutes or until the float to the top of the pot and have increased in size. Or, if you’re doing all of this in advance you can transfer the gnocchi onto a plate or tray and do an additional dusting of semolina to prevent them from sticking to each other. You can also freeze the gnocchi and transfer to a sealed container or bag and store it for two weeks. This recipe yields about three dinners for Gar and I. I always freeze some. The traditional thing and my favorite thing to pair the gnocchi with is a marinara sauce but we’ve had them with some garlic butter and also with some pesto… red sauce is still my fave though.