spinachricottagnocchi

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi topped with a Basic Tomato Sauce and Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Gnocchi is a very traditional Italian family dish. The origin of Gnocchi began from the necessity of frugality and for the need to use whatever was available to the Old World Italian kitchen. The typical ingredients in traditional Gnocchi are potatoes, eggs, and flour. However, there are many other types of Gnocchi besides potato. Ricotta is one of them.

Making Gnocchi is quick and easy. It is Old World Italian perfection complemented with red sauce and grated cheese, yet they remain relatively unknown to the typical American family. When someone refers to Gnocchi as “Lead Sinkers”, it is because they ate a bowl full of mostly flour and water. The flavor of Gnocchi comes from other ingredients and not the flour.

Traditional Ingredients

2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
¾ cup grated Parmigiano cheese
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tbs pureed spinach

1 cup warm water, as needed
Pinch of sea salt

Pinch ground white pepper

Pinch fresh nutmeg

Spinach Preparation

Cook frozen spinach, frozen bags are suggested; squeeze dry and pat with paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible. Finely chop or grate in a food processor. Then add spinach to the mixture. The amount of spinach added to the mixture may vary according to your taste. For fresh spinach, remove stems, blanch and remove moisture as you would for frozen spinach.

The spinach will add a lot of moisture to the ricotta mix, so strain it out as well as possible. Mix all ingredients well and then refrigerate for about 15 to 30 minutes or until firm.

Ricotta Filling Note:

The Spinach Ricotta filling that I used for these Gnocchi was left over from a batch of Gnocchi Ravioli that I made the day before. I added one more egg, more grated cheese and just enough flour to make the dough workable. No sense in wasting some great tasting Spinach Ricotta.

Gnocchi Preparation

Refrigerated Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi Dough Ball

Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a large mixing spoon, but not a machine. Dust with additional flour until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. If the mixture is too dry, then add a tablespoon of water until it is moist.

Pull off a large handful of dough and place it on a flat surface that is dusted with flour. Hand roll dough down to about one inch thick and then cut into pieces slightly over one inch long, or shorter and smaller. To enable the sauce to stick better to the Gnocchi, indent one side of each Gnoccho with the tines of a fork.

Spinach ricotta dough in three stages of preparation. First step on the left is to cut the dough ball in about four pieces. Each piece will produce at least two ropes of hand rolled out dough. The final stage is to cut the Gnocchi in about one inch pieces and run one side over the tines of a fork to enable the sauce to better stick to each Gnoccho.

To cook the Gnocchi, place in a large pan of slightly salted, gently boiling water. Stir gently. When the Gnocchi float to the top, they are done. Allow them to cook for another minute. Remove from water and drain well.

Then serve on a large platter and top with the sauce of your choice and freshly grated cheese. I quickly made a very simple Basic Tomato Sauce in less than twenty total minutes.

My batch of Quick and Easy Basic Tomato Sauce

This particular sauce included one large can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, a good swig of the closest bottle of mellow red wine that was in reach, garlic powder, dried oregano and sweet basil. First I crushed the tomatoes by hand, then I added the rest of the ingredients. I brought it to a quick boil, then turned it down to simmer about 15 minutes.

Immediately upon plating, I topped it with a little of the tomato sauce and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano grated cheese. It simply cannot get any better than this.

To freeze the Gnocchi, place on a flat pan. Once frozen, store them in a sealed plastic bag or any airtight container suitable for freezing.

The word Gnocchi is plural for Gnoccho. However, for reasons beyond my comprehension, is someone is referred to as a Gnoccho, that means they are a hard head. Unlike a Gnoccho, real Gnocchi are tender and are a pleasure to be the guest of honor in the Italian Kitchen.