Thursday, May 14, 2009

DC May 2009 - Ricotta Gnocchi


The first ever daring cooks... YAY!! soo excited.

I was less excited when reading the first challenge I'm afraid.. gnocchi - good, ricotta - BAD! I'm not a big fan of ricotta. I prefer my cheese to be gutsy, full of flavour with a hint of smokiness or tartness. Ricotta in my opinion, feels no different than tofu.. tasteless and very mushy. I was contemplating to use a good Greek Fetta or a blue cheese instead of the Ricotta, but for the first challenge, I think I better stick to the brief. I never made a gnocchi before, so I don't want to be a smart ass and end up wasting good cheese. I did change the sauce. Adding a creamy sauce and an aioli that turns out beautifull with the gnocchi.



I have a lovely salmon fillett in the freezer so I made a salmon, oregano cream sauce - with heaps of parmiggiano regiano of course. For a lighter version, I also made a truffle infused garlic aioli with roasted cherry tomatoes and roasted garlic. Not sure if this will be something I will enjoy, I decided to make just half of the gnocchi. It still produce quite a lot. Enough for 3 meals for me. I'm eating the last batch as we speak. I personally love it with the cream sauce, the parmigiano helps to add more flavour to the gnocchi. I'm still not a convert i'm afraid. I do like the texture of the gnocchi. It is much nicer and creamier than potato gnocchi. It has that melt in your mouth feel to it. It's not very attractive though.. or maybe that's just my lack of gnocchi-shaping experience..

Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi

Source: From The Zuni Café Cookbook.

Yield: Makes 40 to 48 gnocchi (serves 4 to 6)

Prep time: Step 1 will take 24 hours. Steps 2 through 4 will take approximately 1 hour.

Tips:

- If you can find it, use fresh ricotta. As Judy Rodgers advises in her recipe, there is no substitute for fresh ricotta. It may be a bit more expensive, but it's worth it.
- Do not skip the draining step. Even if the fresh ricotta doesn't look very wet, it is. Draining the ricotta will help your gnocchi tremendously.
- When shaping your gnocchi, resist the urge to over handle them. It's okay if they look a bit wrinkled or if they're not perfectly smooth.
- If you're not freezing the gnocchi for later, cook them as soon as you can. If you let them sit around too long they may become a bit sticky.
- For the variations to the challenge recipe, please see the end of the recipe.

Equipment required:

- Sieve
- Cheesecloth or paper towels
- Large mixing bowl
- Rubber spatula
- Tablespoon
- Baking dish or baking sheet
- Wax or parchment paper
- Small pot
- Large skillet
- Large pan or pot (very wide in diameter and at least 2 inches deep)

Videos that might help:

- Judy Rodgers Gnocchi Demo
- Making fresh ricotta demo
- Making ricotta gnocchi

For the gnocchi:

1 pound (454 grams/16 ounces) fresh ricotta (2 cups)
2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) unsalted butter
2 or 3 fresh sage leaves, or a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg, or a few pinches of chopped lemon zest (all optional)
½ ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about ¼ cup very lightly packed)
about ¼ teaspoon salt (a little more if using kosher salt)
all-purpose flour for forming the gnocchi

For the gnocchi sauce:

8 tablespoons (227 grams/1/4 pound/4 ounces) butter, sliced
2 teaspoons water

Step 1 (the day before you make the gnocchi): Preparing the ricotta.

If the ricotta is too wet, your gnocchi will not form properly. In her cookbook, Judy Rodgers recommends checking the ricotta’s wetness. To test the ricotta, take a teaspoon or so and place it on a paper towel. If you notice a very large ring of dampness forming around the ricotta after a minute or so, then the ricotta is too wet. To remove some of the moisture, line a sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels and place the ricotta in the sieve. Cover it and let it drain for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can wrap the ricotta carefully in cheesecloth (2 layers) and suspend it in your refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours with a bowl underneath to catch the water that’s released. Either way, it’s recommended that you do this step the day before you plan on making the gnocchi.

Step 2 (the day you plan on eating the gnocchi): Making the gnocchi dough.

To make great gnocchi, the ricotta has to be fairly smooth. Place the drained ricotta in a large bowl and mash it as best as you can with a rubber spatula or a large spoon (it’s best to use a utensil with some flexibility here). As you mash the ricotta, if you noticed that you can still see curds, then press the ricotta through a strainer to smooth it out as much as possible.

Add the lightly beaten eggs to the mashed ricotta.

Melt the tablespoon of butter. As it melts, add in the sage if you’re using it. If not, just melt the butter and add it to the ricotta mixture.

Add in any flavouring that you’re using (i.e., nutmeg, lemon zest, etc.). If you’re not using any particular flavouring, that’s fine.

Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the salt.

Beat all the ingredients together very well. You should end up with a soft and fluffy batter with no streaks (everything should be mixed in very well).

Step 3: Forming the gnocchi.

Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. When it boils, salt the water generously and keep it at a simmer. You will use this water to test the first gnocchi that you make to ensure that it holds together and that your gnocchi batter isn’t too damp.

In a large, shallow baking dish or on a sheet pan, make a bed of all-purpose flour that’s ½ an inch deep.

With a spatula, scrape the ricotta mixture away from the sides of the bowl and form a large mass in the centre of your bowl.

Using a tablespoon, scoop up about 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter and then holding the spoon at an angle, use your finger tip to gently push the ball of dough from the spoon into the bed of flour.

At this point you can either shake the dish or pan gently to ensure that the flour covers the gnocchi or use your fingers to very gently dust the gnocchi with flour. Gently pick up the gnocchi and cradle it in your hand rolling it to form it in an oval as best as you can, at no point should you squeeze it. What you’re looking for is an oval lump of sorts that’s dusted in flour and plump.

Gently place your gnocchi in the simmering water. It will sink and then bob to the top. From the time that it bobs to the surface, you want to cook the gnocchi until it’s just firm. This could take 3 to 5 minutes.

If your gnocchi begins to fall apart, this means that the ricotta cheese was probably still too wet. You can remedy this by beating a teaspoon of egg white into your gnocchi batter. If your gnocchi batter was fluffy but the sample comes out heavy, add a teaspoon of beaten egg to the batter and beat that in. Test a second gnocchi to ensure success.

Form the rest of your gnocchi. You can put 4 to 6 gnocchi in the bed of flour at a time. But don’t overcrowd your bed of flour or you may damage your gnocchi as you coat them.

Have a sheet pan ready to rest the formed gnocchi on. Line the sheet pan with wax or parchment paper and dust it with flour.

You can cook the gnocchi right away, however, Judy Rodgers recommends storing them in the refrigerator for an hour prior to cooking to allow them to firm up.

Step 4: Cooking the gnocchi.

Have a large skillet ready to go. Place the butter and water for the sauce in the skillet and set aside.

In the largest pan or pot that you have (make sure it’s wide), bring at least 2 quarts of water to a boil (you can use as much as 3 quarts of water if your pot permits). You need a wide pot or pan so that your gnocchi won’t bump into each other and damage each other.

Once the water is boiling, salt it generously.

Drop the gnocchi into the water one by one. Once they float to the top, cook them for 3 to 5 minutes (as in the case with the test gnocchi).

When the gnocchi float to the top, you can start your sauce while you wait for them to finish cooking.

Place the skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Swirl it gently a few times as it melts. As soon as it melts and is incorporated with the water, turn off the heat. Your gnocchi should be cooked by now.

With a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and gently drop into the butter sauce. Carefully roll in the sauce until coated. Serve immediately.

Variations: For the gnocchi, you can flavour them however you wish. If you want to experiment by adding something to your gnocchi (i.e., caramelized onion, sundried tomato), feel free to do so. However, be forewarned, ricotta gnocchi are delicate and may not take well to elaborate additions. For the sauce, this is your chance to go nuts. Enjoy yourselves. Surprise us!!!

Freezing the gnocchi: If you don’t want to cook your gnocchi right away or if you don’t want to cook all of them, you can make them and freeze them. Once they are formed and resting on the flour-dusted, lined tray, place them uncovered in the freezer. Leave them for several hours to freeze. Once frozen, place them in a plastic bag. Remove the air and seal the bag. Return to the freezer. To cook frozen gnocchi, remove them from the bag and place individually on a plate or on a tray. Place in the refrigerator to thaw completely. Cook as directed for fresh gnocchi.

Salmon Oregano Cream Sauce

30-40g of parmigiano regiano
200ml of thick cream
1 salmon fillett
2 tbs of dried oregano

Cook salmon for 20-30 seconds. Add the cream and let it boil. Put in the cheese and oregano, stir until the cheese is melted through. Set the flame to low, cook until the sauce thickens.

Trufle infused garlic aioli

1 stalk of vine ripened cherry tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
white truffle infused olive oil

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Combine all the ingredients on a baking tray. I usually don't bother peeling the garlic when roasting. drench with olive oil. Seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Roast untill the tomatoes are wrinkled.

8 comments:

  1. I bet those would taste great with salmon! Great job, and it's a good thing that you posted because I almost forgot!

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  2. Salmon Oregano Cream Sauce!!! What a winner yes something about it looks crude but the taste and the texture are number one. Your pix are lovely and the flavour combinations are inspired. Great work on this first challenge hope you have many other happy challenges. Cheers from Australia - Audax

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  3. What a fantastic job - so many variations! Wish i could taste! Great photos too!

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  4. Looks beautiful! I love the salmon sauce!! YUM. One of the best sauces I've ever had was a salmon sauce in a coastal town in Italy :D Well done!

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  5. Your gnocchi looks great! Your sauces sound great. As an alternative cook, I actually used tofu for my ricotta, they are similar. Great job on yours!

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  6. Mmm, your gnocchi looks amazing!! I love the sauce you made =D.

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  7. Mmm... this looks good. I'm unconvinced about the ricotta gnocchi too. I wasn't able to make the dish by the posting date, but I'm still going to make and post it late. Your salmon parmiggiano sauce sounds sooo good.

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  8. mmmmm Salmon cream sauce, My favorite sauce on anything! Great job on the challenge!

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