Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi

Name: Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi
Prep time: 1 h 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mediterranean, Italian, European
Ingredients: 85 grams fresh or frozen spinach; 1 egg; 2 teaspoons salt; 680 grams whole milk ricotta cheese, drained of excess moisture; 79 milliliters finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese; 414 milliliters all-purpose flour; 1 pinch Pinch of nutmeg; 794 grams crushed tomatoes (or whole tomatoes that you shred as you add to the pan); 4 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil; 2 garlic cloves, peeled; 1 serving Salt; 57 grams goat cheese

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi is a Mediterranean recipe that serves 4. This main course has 617 calories, 30g of protein, and 21g of fat per serving. This recipe covers 31% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. This recipe from Simply Recipes requires flour, goat cheese, salt, and milk ricotta cheese. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Instructions

Gnocchi

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Blanch spinach and squeeze out excess moisture: Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and heat until simmering.

Ingredients you will need

Spinach

Water

Equipment you will use

Sauce Pan

Add spinach and cook until tender, about 1 minute.

Ingredients you will need

Spinach

Drain.

Let spinach cool enough to touch, then squeeze as much moisture as you can out of it. You can also use a potato ricer if you have one to squeeze the excess moisture out of the spinach.

Ingredients you will need

Spinach

Potato

Equipment you will use

Potato Ricer

Add the spinach, egg, salt, and half of the ricotta to a food processor. Pulse until completely blended.

Ingredients you will need

Ricotta Cheese

Spinach

Salt

Egg

Equipment you will use

Food Processor

Transfer mixture to a large bowl, mix in the remaining ricotta and the Parmesan cheese. Stir a pinch of nutmeg into the flour.

Ingredients you will need

Parmesan

Ricotta Cheese

Nutmeg

All Purpose Flour

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Add the flour in by hand, starting with a half of the flour.

Ingredients you will need

All Purpose Flour

Mix everything with your hands until the mixture holds together as a dough.

Ingredients you will need

Dough

Put the dough out on a lightly floured smooth, clean surface. Knead lightly for about a minute, adding additional flour if needed, if the dough sticks too easily to the board or your hands. (At this point, if you wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for an hour, it will be easier to roll out.)

Ingredients you will need

Dough

All Purpose Flour

Roll

Wrap

When the dough is smooth and pliable, and still just a little bit sticky, divide it into 4 portions, each the size of an orange.

Ingredients you will need

Orange

Dough

Roll dough out into long ropes, cut into pieces: Flour your hands lightly. Using both hands, and a light touch, roll the dough out with a back and forth motion, starting at the center and stretching the dough out, to form a roll.

Ingredients you will need

Dough

All Purpose Flour

Roll

This is the tricky part. You don't want to put so much pressure so that you compress the dough, but you do need enough pressure to create a rope of dough.

Ingredients you will need

Dough

The trick is to stretch the dough sideways as you are rolling. Once the segment you are working on gets to be about a foot long, you may find it easier to cut it in half, and then start working on that smaller segment.

Ingredients you will need

Dough

Roll the dough out until the roll is about the size of a middle finger. (Note that if your hands or the board is a little too floured, you may not have enough traction between your skin and the dough to easily stretch it sideways.)

Ingredients you will need

Dough

Roll

Cut each roll into 1-inch pieces.

Ingredients you will need

Roll

Create indentations with a fork: Hold a fork at a 45% angle with its tines facing down on the work board, the curved part of the fork facing away from you. Starting with the curved outside bottom of the fork, press each piece of dough up along the length of the tines.

Ingredients you will need

Dough

Let the gnocchi fall back down.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

This is a pretty quick motion, the result is an indentation of the fork tines on one side of the gnocchi, and an indentation of your fingertip on the other side.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Place the gnocchi on a lightly floured cookie sheet. At this point they can be cooked, or kept in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Equipment you will use

Baking Sheet

Cook the gnocchi in boiling water: To cook the gnocchi, fill a large wide pot half-way with water. Bring to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt for every quart of water.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Water

Salt

Equipment you will use

Pot

Once the salt has dissolved, gently drop the gnocchi in the water, one by one. Try to do this in a way that the gnocchi are not falling in on top of each other, but rest on the bottom of the pan in a single layer.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Water

Salt

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

As the gnocchi cooks, they will rise to the surface of the water after a couple minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the risen gnocchi from the pot, place in a serving bowl.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Water

Equipment you will use

Slotted Spoon

Bowl

Pot

Sometimes the gnocchi can stick a little at the bottom. If you suspect this, nudge them a little to unstick them. As you remove some gnocchi, you can add a few more to the pan.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

The Sauce

Ingredients you will need

Sauce

you are cooking the gnocchi, make the sauce.

Ingredients you will need

Gnocchi

Sauce

Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat.

Ingredients you will need

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Sauce Pan

Add the garlic cloves and cook until lightly browned on all sides.

Ingredients you will need

Whole Garlic Cloves

Remove and discard the garlic.

Ingredients you will need

Garlic

Add the tomatoes (include any juices from the can) all at once (careful, they may cause the oil to splatter as the tomatoes hit the pan). As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and let simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt. Stir occasionally. Use a potato masher to break up any solid pieces of tomato, you want a rough purée.

Ingredients you will need

Tomato

Potato

Salt

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Potato Masher

Frying Pan

Once the sauce reduces to a medium thick consistency, add the goat cheese, stirring until it is well blended.

Ingredients you will need

Goat Cheese

Sauce

Add more salt to taste.

Ingredients you will need

Salt

Serve gnocchi with the sauce and extra grated Parmesan.

Ingredients you will need

Parmesan

Gnocchi

Sauce

Equipment

Ingredients

Servings:

85grams

fresh or frozen spinach 1

egg 2teaspoons

salt 680grams

whole milk ricotta cheese, drained of excess moisture 79milliliters

finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 414milliliters

all-purpose flour 1pinch

Pinch of nutmeg 794grams

crushed tomatoes (or whole tomatoes that you shred as you add to the pan)4Tbsps

extra virgin olive oil 2

garlic cloves, peeled 1serving

Salt 57grams

goat cheese

Recommended wine: Chianti, Trebbiano, Verdicchio

Gnocchi can be paired with Chianti, Trebbiano, and Verdicchio. Italians know food and they know wine. Trebbiano and Verdicchio are Italian white wines that pair well with fish and white meat, while Chianti is a great Italian red for heavier, bolder dishes. One wine you could try is Antinori Badian a Passignano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. It has 4.6 out of 5 stars and a bottle costs about 60 dollars.