So, have you had gnocchi yet? No? Well, you better get on that.
Gnocchi are wonderful little chewy pasta pillows. They’re light, fluffy, slightly chewy, and completely satisfying. Totally nosh-tastic. And they go with anything. Top them with red sauce, cheese, pesto, or just a simple garlic butter. Gnocchi are definitely going on my “must have in the freezer at all times” list (instructions for freezing at the end of the post).
Oh, and did I mention how simple they are? There are variations made with potato but since mashing potatoes is one of my all-time least favorite activities, I went for the ricotta version. The dough comes together in a matter of minutes then you just roll it out, cut it and pop it into boiling water. Once in the water they take less than five minutes to cook. SERIOUSLY.
One more thing…. (there are just so many good things to say about these little guys) You can totally take this recipe in a thousand directions. This recipe is for the most basic, plain flavor. You can add parmesan cheese, garlic powder, nutmeg, or other herbs. You can make gnocchi in a thousand flavors! I know I’m going to. You can look forward to many many gnocchi recipes in Budget Bytes future.
The pricing below is just for the gnocchi themselves since there are so many ways to eat them. They are pictured after being sauteed in garlic butter and topped with just a bit of cheese and parsley. OMG, just talking about them makes me want another bowl.
Easy Ricotta Gnocchi
Easy Ricotta Gnocchi
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese ($1.99)
- 1 large egg ($0.18)
- 1 tsp olive oil ($0.04)
- approx. 2 cups all-purpose flour ($0.29)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 10 cranks fresh cracked pepper ($0.03)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, olive oil, egg, salt, and freshly cracked pepper.
- Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it forms a soft sticky dough (about 1.5 cups)
- Begin boiling a large pot of water. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead in about another 1/2 cup of flour or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. The dough should still be very soft in texture.
- Divide the dough into six pieces. Roll each piece out into a rope about 1 inch thick. Cut the rope into 1 inch sections. If desired, roll each piece of dough on the back of a fork to give it a ridged texture.
- When the water is boiling vigorously, drop the dough pieces into the water. As the gnocchi boil they will begin to rise to the surface. Once all of them are floating on top, let them boil for about 30 seconds to one minute more to ensure thorough cooking. Drain in a colander.
- Top drained gnocchi with your favorite sauce or garlic butter, salt, and pepper. Enjoy!
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Start with the ricotta, olive oil, egg, salt, and pepper in a bowl. I used part-skim ricotta but that’s completely up to you.
Whisk them together until it’s smooth…
Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until you have a soft dough. You’ll need to use a spoon rather than a whisk to add the flour. I added about 1.5 cups before I got the soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead in just enough flour to make the dough not stick to your hands. I kneaded in about another 1/2 cup. The dough will still be very soft.
Start boiling the water at this point. Divide the dough into about 6 pieces and roll them into ropes about one inch wide. Cut the ropes into one inch sections. You can either boil the pasta as is at this point or you can roll it on the back of a fork for more texture.
This is what I mean by roll on the back of a fork. One side stays smooth and one side gets little ridges in it. Honestly, you can’t see the texture much after thy puff up during cooking so you can skip this if you want to, but this is the classic gnocchi shape.
Once the water is boiling furiously, add the gnocchi. They will cool the water down considerably so make sure you have the heat on high…
As they cook they’ll begin to float…
And when they’re done they’ll all be floating! I let them boil for about 30 seconds more after they are all floating just to make sure they’re cooked through. I didn’t want a raw flour taste.
Drain the gnocchi in a colander and then top with your favorite sauce! Or…
Melt some butter with minced garlic in the still warm pot.
Add the gnocchi and coat with the garlic butter. If you have a non-stick pan, you can turn the heat on and let the gnocchi get a little crispy on the edges. I tried to fry mine but they just stuck to the pot no matter how much oil I added… but they were still delicious.
Top with a little cheese and parsley. Mmmmmmmm.
Or top with your favorite red sauce… How did I live without gnocchi?!
To Freeze Your Gnocchi:
After shaping the gnocchi (and BEFORE boiling), place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop it in the freezer. After an hour in the freezer, transfer them to a zip lock bag and keep in the freezer ’till you’re ready to eat them. To prepare from frozen, simply drop the frozen gnocchi in boiling water and boil until they float.
I’ve made potato gnocci many times, but this was my first time making ricotta gnocci. We LOVED it. I had some ricotta I’d used for something else that had been seasoned with parsley, garlic and a bit of lemon zest. That made the gnocci really flavorful. We tossed the finished gnocci with carmelized balsamic onions, topped with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan. They were even amazing reheated the following day~still light. Thanks for a great recipe!
Mine never last more than a month, but I’m guessing probably 2-3 months :)
how long can these last in the freezer? sorry my anal self likes to label all freezer stuff with an expiration date :D
-Sara
Part skim would probably work okay, but I’m guessing that fat free would just change the texture of the gnocchi too much. …although I’ve never actually tried it! :)
I was wondering if you could use part skim or even fat free ricotta?
Really great recipe, thanks! However, it took me a bit longer than 25 min to make these. (Maybe because it’s the 1st time I ever made it)?
I made this tonight with my 5yo’s help — SO yummy! And he ATE it! He’s almost never eats dinner. I added tomatoes and finely sliced spinach, and he picked out the tomatoes. ;)
Just made this tonight, it was so yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Ashley- I haven’t tried it with all WW flour, but in general subbing WW flour for AP flour causes some textural changes. They will probably be more dense and chewy.
Hi Beth, I love gnocchi, so I’m really glad to have found this recipe. Do you know if I can substitute whole wheat flour in for the all-purpose flour?
I substituted whole wheat flour and cake flour for the all- purpose. The wheat flour made them a darker color, of course. I had to work to get the fork tine marks on them. My dough was soft but I didn’t want to add too much flour. Taste was quite yummie. Definately will make again.
Hmm, nope, my dough wasn’t sticky. There aren’t many ingredients so I’m perplexed about why your dough seemed so wet. What size egg did you use? Maybe the difference between an extra large and large egg could be the culprit (I used a large egg)? Also, maybe try adding a touch more salt.
made these tonight and they tasted more like flour than anything else. i think i may have added too much at the end. we ended up throwing most of it out because it tasted so bad. is the dough going to still be sticky before you boil them? i felt like i had to keep adding flour to the dough because i didn’t want it sticking to my hands but i’m sure i went too far. not sure if i’ll try this one again because i failed so miserably at it.
I did knead the dough a lot. I’ll be trying these again soon. Thanks!
I’ve only made them a couple of times, but have found that they are fluffiest just after boiling. They tend to get more dense as they cool and drain. If the dough gets over worked they will also be more dense and chewy. Gnocchi have an interesting texture, kind if between fluffy and chewy.