Ricotta Gnocchi

This has to be the easiest homemade pasta. It's just two ingredients, and impossible to mess up. Ricotta gnocchi is more dense than potato gnocchi, but not in a heavy way. I got this recipe from someone I used to work with a long time ago, and it's a good one to have in your repertoire.

1 cup whole milk ricotta
1 cup all-purpose flour

Combine ricotta and flour in a bowl, and mix with your hands until thoroughly combined and you can form into a ball. Squeezing the mixture through your fingers helps to even mix it.




The dough isn't very sticky so you don't have to flour your counter or cutting board. Cut the ball of dough into slices and roll into long pieces. Some of the bigger slices you may have to cut in half to make them easier to work with. Once you roll the dough out, the long pieces should be about the width of a highlighter or big marker.




Next, cut the pieces into little gnocchis using a sharp knife. Once they're all cut lightly press a fork into the top of each just to give it a little texture.




Cook in salted boiling water for just a few minutes, until half of the gnocchis rise to the top.



That's it! I topped mine with homemade pesto:



This recipe is obviously very easy to double, triple, or cut in half. I usually do 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups ricotta. The 1 cup recipe is cutting it close to being enough for two people, and the 1 1/2 cup version is plenty for two with a little leftover. The recipe is recommended with whole milk ricotta, and I've never tried otherwise. I'm pretty sure it's for the purpose of making the dough hold together and keeping a good density. These gnocchis are also great with vodka sauce, but I was really craving pesto. So good!