Ricotta Gnocchi (w/ Brown Butter Sage Sauce)

Original recipe from food52.com again. These came out SO great. Simple and somewhat quick enough for a week night….. but not the heat-it-in-the-microwave weeknight…. more like the small quick satisfying project weeknight.

(This recipe serves 3 for a good dinner portion – 4 people for a light meal)

ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• freshly grated nutmeg to taste [ Also they could use some salt and pepper or basil or lemon zest??]
• 2 cups Flour, sifted plus extra for rolling dough.

directions:

1. Add egg to ricotta cheese and oil and mix thoroughly. [I used my food processor with the plastic mixing blade]
2. Add grated parmesan cheese to mixture and sprinkle with nutmeg to taste.
3. Add sifted flour a little at a time and continue to mix thoroughly until dough comes together.
4. Dump onto generously floured surface and work with hands to bring together into a smooth ball. Add more flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticks to your hands.
5. Cut off slices of dough like cutting a loaf of bread and roll into ropes thumb size thick by spreading hands and fingers and rolling from center out to each edge of the rope.
6. Line one rope parallel to another and cut 2 at a time into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece off the back of a fork to make imprints that will help hold the sauce.
7. Transfer gnocchi pieces to a lightly floured or non-stick baking sheet so they don’t stick together and put in the freezer while making the rest of batch. If you plan to save any gnocchi for future use, allow them to freeze entirely on the baking sheet before storing in a ziplock bag to prevent sticking together.
8. When ready to prepare, bring a large stockpot of generously salted water to a boil.
9. Add gnocchi to boiling water and gently stir once with a wooden spoon to create movement and prevent gnocchi from sticking to the bottom. As gnocchi rise to the top {a sign they are done cooking} scoop them out with a mesh strainer or a bamboo wire skimmer and immediately place in serving bowl shaking off excess water.
10. Scoop some sauce on top of each layer of gnocchi as they are placed in the bowl to eliminate the need to stir them with sauce in the end and risk damaging or smashing the pasta. Generously grate parmesan over the top and serve.

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

I wanted to serve these with a butter sage sauce while my husband wanted a red sauce so I did the following for MY portion of gnocchi. You’d want to increase everything if you were making this sauce for the whole batch:

1. Melt about 1 Tbsp Butter in a sauce pan [Dont use nonstick or you cant see when the butter browns]
2. When the butter is melted, throw in a couple sage leaves. I did 3 but ended up wishing i used double that.
3. When the butter starts to brown, take it off the heat immediately.
4. I added a smashed roasted garlic clove that i had in the fridge.
5. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the mixture and add your gnocchi right in the sauce pan. [really important]
6. Toss to coat and serve.
7. DELICIOUS.