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Mangia, ricord. (By eating I remember)
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My Nonni's Ricotta Gnocchi
*Serves 6
 
- 1 ½ pounds fresh ricotta cheese or 3 cups packaged whole-milk ricotta
- cheese
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or as needed, plus more for forming the gnocchi
- 24 ounces of My Nonni’s Italian Meat Sauce (2 pouches)
- Parmesan cheese for garnish

- Place the ricotta in a fine sieve over a bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Discard liquid in the bottom of the bowl.
- Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in large pot over high heat.
- In a medium-size bowl, pour in the drained ricotta.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and 1 teaspoon salt until foamy.
- Stir the eggs, cheese, pepper and nutmeg into the ricotta with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended.
- Gradually add as much of the flour as necessary to form a soft and sticky dough. Ricotta-gnocchi dough is soft and sticky – work it as little as possible.
- Divide the dough into six equal pieces.
- Roll one of the dough pieces out with a back-and-forth movement till you form a rope about 1-inch wide.
- Flour your hands, the work surface, and the dough lightly, as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces.
- Use a fork to gently roll the pieces of gnocchi.
- Place on a baking sheet dusted with flour or with a floured kitchen towel and continue forming gnocchi from the remaining dough.
- At this point, the gnocchi must be cooked immediately or frozen.
*To freeze, place baking sheets in a level position in the freezer. Freeze until solid, about 3 hours. Gather the frozen gnocchi into resealable freezer bags. Frozen gnocchi can be stored in the freezer 4 – 6 weeks.
- Pour My Nonni’s Italian Meat Sauce into a large sauté pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to low and keep sauce at a low simmer.
- Gently slip as many of the gnocchi at a time as will float freely in the pot of boiling water, stirring gently with a wooden spoon as you do.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until they float to the top and are tender, about 7 minutes.
- Scoop them out with a wire skimmer and drain, and then add them directly to the meat sauce.
- Cook remaining gnocchi, if necessary.
- Stir cooked gnocchis in sauce and heat for about 1 minute and serve hot.
- Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
To cook frozen gnocchi:
- Frozen gnocchi must be cooked directly from the freezer.
- Cook as described above, sauce and serve as mentioned above.
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