This wonderful recipe comes from Tessa Kiros’ gorgeous cookbook, Apples for Jam. Despite the fact that it’s printed in a faint font and therefore hard to read, it’s a very appealing book visually, and I was instantly drawn to the cover, with its embossed overlay of flowers.
This is the first recipe we’ve tried from the book, and it was an absolute winner – messy, but delicious, and very easy to make. It fed three of us very well, with Small Man dining on a plate of beef tortellini – he’s not much of a ricotta fan at the best of times..
- 500g fresh ricotta
- 100g plain flour
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- pinch of Malden salt
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and have your sauce ready to go, as the gnocchi need to be eaten as soon as they’re cooked. We served ours with Pete’s tomato sauce, garnished with a dollop of homemade pesto.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix gently with a wooden or silicone spoon. You might need to get a clean hand in to gingerly encourage it to come together. Don’t overwork the dough.
3. With lightly floured hands (you want to add as little flour as possible, or the gnocchi will be tough), shape the dough into thin logs on a large sheet of parchment paper. This is messy work!
4. With a sharp knife, cut the logs into small dumplings, and drop them into the boiling water. Allow them to cook for about 45 seconds to a minute, or until they float to the surface. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon, and serve immediately with the sauce and a dusting of grated parmesan.
Slicing up the logs was a bit fiddly, and I suspect you could simply drop spoonfuls of the dough into the boiling water, providing you worked quickly enough.
However you decide to make them, do try this recipe – it’s really very simple and the results are surprisingly tasty!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
MMMMMMM,…I love ricotta! Which ricotta do you use ??
I normally only use fresh sheep’s ricotta from the Market!
Hi Sophie – these were made from fresh cow’s milk ricotta, manufactured here in Sydney. I’ve never tried a sheep’s milk version – will have to look out for it! :)
Cheers, Celia
Celia – I have just this minute been flicking through that book looking for inspiration for dinner. I have made the ricotta gnocchi a few times and it has always been very popular. Thanks for reminding me about it..
Cool, Alex! Are there any other recipes in the book you recommend? Thanks, Celia
Sounds great but can you work out a dairy free version for me?! :) Just reading it made my stomach spasm slightly so I don’t think I will try this one (unlike many of your other dairy filled recipes that I rush home to make after reading your blog!). By the way, I made up a batch of the caneles again the other day and virtuously put it in the fridge for the overnight wait (as per your instructions)….only to find that Andrew had chucked it out when I went to bake them the next day!! Can you believe that? Have to make up some more now….
He probably thought it was curdled milk! :)
And no, this recipe isn’t for you. What about a potato and gf flour version instead?
Those look gorgeous. I’ve eyed that cookbook several times and never bought it… but if this is what the recipes are like, I might need to pick it up!
The cookbook looks LOVELY…..and I think have read Spice and more’s comment about caneles, I’m reminded to make some. Maybe tomorrow!
SK and Oz, it truly IS the most beautiful book. Really the only thing that bugs me is the very light coloured font, which makes it harder to read in low light. But I’ve acclimatised to it now (or as the Americans say, “acclimated” :))…
Cheers, Celia
Hi Celia
Do you strain the ricotta first?
We have tried and failed at ricotta gnocchi several times, the cheese just seems too moist (fresh ricotta from Paesanella) and by the time enough flour is added to keep it together the texture is horrible. Although I haven’t tried this recipe so would have to see how the quantities match up with mine. The mixture usually ends up as baked ricotta!
Any suggestions would be really helpful.
Thanks
K
Hi Kirsten
I always strain my ricotta before putting it in the fridge. Paesanella once told me that if you do that it lasts longer, as the whey can go off first. So when I get it home, I tip it into a strainer over a bowl and leave it for a while, until it’s quite dry.
This recipe is a wet and sticky one, which is why I included the photo of the gnocchi before it was boiled so you could see the consistency of the dough. You’re basically trying to use as little flour as possible to (just) hold them together. Another thought – Paesanella also sell a dry fresh ricotta – maybe that might be easier to work with?
Cheers, Celia
Thanks for the tips Celia. Sorry for the late response, only thought to check back this morning as I’m putting ricotta gnocchi on the menu again this week.
Third (or is it fourth!) time lucky hopefully.