Easy Ricotta Gnocchi with creamy mushroom sauce
Recipe video above. An easy recipe for pillowy soft gnocchi made using ricotta instead of potato. It's real Italian food - fast! Takes a third of the time to make compared to potato gnocchi, and it's lighter and softer so you won't feel as weighed down. Served with a creamy mushroom sauce which is to-die-for sauce for pillowy soft gnocchi. See below recipe card for more gnocchi sauces. Serves 3 as a main, 4 to 5 as a starter.
Servings: 3
Calories: 702cal
Ingredients
Gnocchi
Creamy mushroom sauce
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1/2 onion or 1 eschallot (US: shallot), finely chopped
- 2 thyme sprigs (sub 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
- 250g / 8oz white mushrooms , sliced in 5mm / 0.2" slices
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 cup chardonnay or other dry white wine (skip for non alcoholic)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 2/3 cup thickened / heavy cream (or pure cream)
Garnish
- Freshly grated parmesan
- Fresh parsley , finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
Homemade ricotta gnocchi
- Mix - Put all the gnocchi ingredients in a bowl except the flour. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to mix until combined (smear up the wall if needed, to help cream the ricotta).
- Add flour - Add 3/4 cup of flour and mix until just combined so it is a very sticky dough that will hold its shape in a mound, but is not runny like a muffin batter (see video for consistency). Stickier dough = softer gnocchi! Use the remaining flour, 1 tbsp at a time, if needed, but try to stick with 3/4 cup. You can always add more flour in the next step. (Note 3)
- Form disc - Sprinkle a work surface with flour then scrape the dough out onto it. Sprinkle the top lightly with flour then use your hands to give the dough a light knead to bring it into a ball then pat it into a disc about 2.5cm/1" thick. Cut it into 8 wedges, using a knife or dough scraper dusted with flour as needed between each cut
- Roll and cut - Roll each piece into a log 25cm/10" long, about 1.25cm / 1/2" wide. Cut into 1.5 cm / 3/5" pieces (Can freeze at this point - Note 4)
Creamy mushroom sauce
- Cook mushrooms - Melt the butter in a large pan over high heat. Add the onion, garlic and thyme sprigs. Cook for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes until the mushrooms is softened.
- Sauce - Add the wine and simmer rapidly for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring to scrape the base of the pan, until mostly evaporated. Add the stock/broth and cream, then stir.
- Simmer - Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer gently for 5 minutes until thickened. (It's ok if it seems a bit thin, the starch from gnocchi will thicken it quickly, have faith!).
Cook gnocchi & sauce it
- Cook gnocchi - Bring a large pot of water to the boil with 2 teaspoons of salt. Tumble the gnocchi in and cook for around 2 1/2 minutes, or until the gnocchi is floating on the surface for around 30 seconds, no longer (else they overcook!)
- Sauce it - Use a spider or large slotted spoon to scoop the gnocchi out of the water and straight into the sauce (excess water drips in the sauce are good!). Turn the heat up to medium and toss gently for 1 minute or until the sauce thickens and coats the gnocchi. If the sauce gets too thick, add a splash of the gnocchi cooking water.
- Serve immediately, garnished with freshly grated parmesan and parsley, if desired.
Notes
1. Ricotta - Don’t buy the soft, smooth spreadable type of ricotta – it’s too wet and loose, which will make the dough too sticky. Use regular ricotta that is kind of lumpy when you scoop it up (see video).
Paesanella, which is widely available in NSW, is my favourite mainstream brand. In Victoria, look for That’s Amore.
If your ricotta is soft and creamy (ie spreadable like peanut butter), you'll need around 450g/15 oz and will need to extract excess liquid by placing it in a paper towel lined colander for an hour, or even overnight. Then measure out 250g/8 oz and proceed with the recipe.
2. Parmesan - You really need to use freshly grated parmesan cheese for this because it is lighter and finer than store bought pre grated parmesan so it dissolves into the gnocchi better.
3. KEY TIP: The less flour you use, the lighter, softer and fluffier your gnocchi will be. But ricotta wetness can vary, so the exact flour amount may vary. See video for dough stickiness (much stickier than you expect!), it will be too sticky to knead like regular dough.
4. Freezing - Freeze in single layers (you can use baking paper to separate layers). Then tumble into an airtight container and freeze until required. Cook from frozen, it will take an extra minute.
5. Recipe adapted from various sources, including Gourmet Traveller, Serious Eats, and SBS (Margaret Fulton recipe).
Nutrition
Calories: 702cal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 260mg | Sodium: 1253mg | Potassium: 560mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1792IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 544mg | Iron: 3mg