Gnocchi has always been in the category of “way too much effort and probably not worth the time” in my mind. That is, until I found a recipe for ridiculously easy ricotta gnocchi. Yes, I feel like I’m cheating. Gnocchi should be made of potatoes, right? But alas, I lack a potato ricer and didn’t want to splurge the $11 it cost to buy one at the grocery store. Lame, I know.

But, despite me feeling like a total impostor, faking my way to a delicious Italian dinner, it was actually good! The browned butter gave it a nice flavor as well, without taking too much attention to the gnocchi itself. With a bit more effort these could be way more attractive (whoops), but the taste and texture was really quite lovely. For my first try at gnocchi, I’m deeming it a success. Next time I’ll graduate to potatoes, and perhaps even splurge for a potato ricer. Oh my!

I decided to go for spinach gnocchi because I am a total spinach fanatic, and didn’t want just plain gnocchi. That and I’m not a huge fan of the flavor of ricotta on its own. I always try things with it (e.g. ricotta lasagna) and end up really disliking the homogenous nature of the taste. That said, adding in some spinach worked miracles for the taste of these gnocchi. I simply cooked and chopped my spinach, but for aesthetic appeal I would maybe recommend blending it in a food processor or blender first. I read recommendations saying to be careful, lest it liquify on you, but I imagine a quick blend would give it a much better texture to incorporate better into your gnocchi.

Spinach Gnocchi with Browned Butter

Browned Butter
6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Melt butter over medium heat in a sauce pan, swirling continuously. Cook until butter starts to brown and flecks appear on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat.

Gnocchi
1 cup cooked spinach (liquid pressed out)
16 oz ricotta
2 egg yolks
2+ cups of flour
6 tablespoons fresh grated parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix (hands work best) until completely incorporated and smooth. Add flour as needed until you have a smooth ball of “dough” to work with. Break of pieces and roll into logs the size of your pointer finger. Cut with a knife into small pieces, 1/2 to 1 inch in length. Place in a boiling pot of water and cook until they float to the top. Drain, toss with browned butter, top with parmesan cheese, and serve!

Notes and Tips:

• Do not start the butter until your gnocchi are already formed – heat the water and butter at the same time.
• My flour measurements are very roughly estimated – use as much as you need to be able to work with the dough, but keep in mind that the gnocchi will get more dense and firm with more flour. Gnocchi should be light and fluffy, so use as little flour as you can get away with.
• When rolling out the gnocchi, I found it helpful to let the dough sit for a few minutes to dry out – making it easier to work with.
• This recipe would likely be very good with pesto, and would be fine with any pasta sauce of your choosing.

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