Ricotta Week!

Gnocchi alla ricotta e pomodoro

I have acquired 4 kg of ricotta and it must be used!

Here is a recipe you simply must try.

It is simple and tasty and I would happily serve this for entree to my guests or as a homely winter meal.

Tomato Ricotta Gnocchi

2 eggs 

375g fresh ricotta

1 cup of tomato paste

2 cups of plain flour

butter and olive oil

oregano or basil

garlic

Parmesan

In a bowl combine the eggs, ricotta and tomato paste.

On your work surface heap the flour and make a little well.

Add to this the ricotta mixture and work together like you are making a dough but don't over work it.

Sprinkle the work surface with a little flour and divide your mixture by four and roll them into a sausage about 2cm thick.

Slice the sausage shape on the diagonal about 1cm thick and drop into a pot of boiling water in small batches.

Cook until they rise to the top and are tender.

Remove them to drain on a plate with a clean tea towel (cause we don't use paper towel do we *wink*)

In a frying pan, heat the butter/oil and saute the garlic and add the gnocchi. I crumbles in some of our dried oregano from summer, fresh basil would be nice.

The idea is to toss to coat like a dressing but I like to fry them a bit to get a crisp texture on the outside to contrast with the soft doughiness on the inside.

Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan.