How to Make A16 Gnocchi Dough

I don’t think I have ever made good gnocchi at home. There is always something missing, every damn time. Kind of frustrating since I’d like to think I have gotten pretty good at pasta, but this is different.

That said, I have also only made potato gnocchi, which I thought was the only kind of gnocchi. Nope. Gnocchi made with potato were the only recipes that I had seen, so when preparing for this recipe, I kept expecting it to show up in the recipe, but never did. Turns out cheese can be substituted for potatoes. Ricotta for this recipe, is that gives the little dumplings their awesome fluffiness.

I will say, this dough was pretty finicky. It’s quite sticky when working with it, and also very soft and fluffy when trying to roll out the dough. Makes things pretty interesting when cutting as well, but the end result is great. Gnocchi is also great because you can easily freeze it when you are not using it and can make for an easy/amazing lunch dinner since you can throw the frozen gnocchis straight into boiling water.

Cookbook – A16

Ingredients –

Fresh Ricotta – 2 cups, well drained (Ricotta is very moist. Well drained means putting the ricotta over a cheese cloth, in a strainer, in a bowl for water to drain out. Overnight ideally, but a few hours will suffice. You be surprised how much water gets drained in that short amount of time)
Olive oil – 2 tbsp
Salt
Egg Yolk – 1
Full egg – 1 – lightly beaten
00 Flour – 1 cup – plus more as needed when working with the dough, I actually needed quite a bit more
Semolina flour – for dusting the gnocchi sheet when cutting so no dumplings stick together

Tools –

Stand mixer
Bench scraper – Ideally
Pizza cutter or knife
Cheese cloth
Strainer
Baking sheet

Step 1 – Drain the ricotta

Ideally do this over night before the recipe, but a few hours beforehand will also do. Ricotta is ver moist and getting the water out will help the gnocchi become fluffier.

To do this, take the ricotta and put it in the cheese cloth, place that ball in a small strainer over a bowl, and simply let sit. Gravity will do the rest.

Step 2 – Combine ingredients

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the ricotta, olive oil, and two pinches of salt. Mix mix for about 2 minutes on medium high, until the mixture looks smooth. Then whisk in the egg yolk and egg for about another minute, until everything is just combined.

Step 3 – Form the dough

This dough was quite sticky for me, so don’t be surprised if you feel the same when forming the dough.

Clear off a large space and lay out 1/2 cup of flour. Spread the ricotta mixture on top of the flour, and then cover with the remaining flour. Using a bench scraper, start folding together.

Ideally, the dough should not be overworked. When folding together and mixing the dough, the dough should feel tacky but should not stick to your fingers. If that is the case, continue to knead and add flour until this does not happen. The dough will be ready if if slightly springs back when touched, but is still soft.

Step 4 – Form the ropes and cut

Lightly flour (00) a work surface and divide the dough into 6 pieces. Using the fingertips when rolling is key. Slowly start working the dough into form a long rope. Roll the dough back and forth, while also trying to push the dough outwards as you work. Ideally the rope is about 18 inches and 1/2 inch wide, do your best here. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.

Move the ropes onto a baking sheet covered with semolina flour. Semolina flour is an amazing flour that helps pasta not stick together. If you are looking to continue to make pasta, make sure to always have some around.

Once you have your 6 gnocchi ropes, simply use a pizza cutter or knife to shape the gnocchis. Cut straight up the ropes, forming about 1 inch gnocchi pieces.

At this point, the gnocchi can be boiled or frozen for another time.