Potato & Ricotta Gnocchi: Guest Blogger

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About the Guest Blogger:

My name is Hetal and I blog over at Pretty Polymath, where I blog about food, traveling, crafting and whatever else catches my fancy. I’m kind of obsessed with gnocchi and always order it whenever I go to a restaurant. There is something comforting about this dish and now I can make it at home whenever I want! Gnocchi looks like it’s hard to make, but I promise it’s super easy. Most gnocchi recipes require eggs, however; I found that the egg made the gnocchi heavy and chewy. This version comes out super light and fluffy and you won’t feel like you’re eating raw dough. (Yuck!) Try it for yourself!

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Cook time: 1 hour                                                                                          

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes (3 large potatoes)

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Method:

Wash the potatoes and place in a large saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 25 minute or until potatoes are tender. 

Once the potatoes are cool, peel and mash them with a fork or potato ricer.

Add nutmeg, ricotta cheese, salt, and black pepper to the potatoes and mix with your hands. Add ½ cup of flour at a time and mix well. The dough will be very sticky. The dough is ready once you can roll the dough into a log and it stays together without sticking everywhere. My final dough was super sticky on my hands, however; it was very easy for me to roll my dough out.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Take on piece and roll out into a long rope on a floured surface until the rope is ½ inch in diameter. Cut into ½ inch long pieces and place them on a lightly floured baking sheet. You can roll the gnocchi onto the back of a fork if you’d like to get a nice ridge design. I didn’t do this part.

Dust your gnocchi with more flour and place in front of a fan on low speed for 30 minutes, turning the gnocchi halfway through. This will help the gnocchi form a thin skin and prevent them from bursting in the boiling water.  You can also freeze the gnocchi at this point as well.

Bring a pot of water to boil and drop the gnocchi in. Once the gnocchi start floating, remove them from the water. This will take 1-2 minutes. Serve with your favorite sauce and enjoy!

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