Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi with Mushrooms
This delicious Piemontese recipe for homemade ricotta gnocchi served with sauteed mushrooms is pretty easy to make and a fabulous dish for meatless Mondays and vegetarians.
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Course: homemade gnocchi, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian, Northern Italy, Piedmont-Piemonte
Keyword: gnocchi, homemade gnocchi, mushrooms, porcini, ricotta, ricotta gnocchi
Servings: 4
Calories: 654kcal
Ingredients for gnocchi
- 500 g ricotta (1lb) fresh sheep or cow's milk ricotta or Seirass
- 200 g all-purpose flour (7oz) I used Italian '00' flour. You can also use Italian type 1 flour (not as fine as '00')
- 60 g Parmigiano Reggiano or grana (2oz) vegetarians should use hard cheese without animal rennet.
- 3 eggs 2 whole, 1 yolk
- 1 pinch salt
Ingredients for mushroom sauce
- 500 g mushrooms (1lb) I used 60 g (2oz) frozen porcini and white champignon button mushrooms. you can use dried porcini.
- 2-3 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 1 handful fresh parsley washed and chopped
- 2-3 tbps extra virgin olive oil.
- 2-3 tbps butter
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper. to taste
Start to make the gnocchi dough
Make the mushroom sauce
While the dough is resting prepare and cook the mushrooms. If using dried porcini, soak them in warm water for 20-30 minutes first. Then drain them but keep a bit of the water to add to the sauce. Clean the other mushrooms and cut into slices. Peel the garlic and chop finely. Was the parsley and chop finely.
Heat the olive oil and half the butter in a frying pan or skillet. Add the garlic and cook until it starts to soften. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until they start to brown slightly. Add more butter if they start to dry out. When the mushrooms are almost cooked add the parsley and the rest of the butter. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Make the ricotta gnocchi
Put a pot of salted water on to boil. In the meantime, with the help of plain flour or semolina, take a tablespoon of the dough and roll it between your hands into a ball (you will probably need to flour your hands. Then roll the ball out into a rope/snake on a floured board. Cut the pasta into gnocchi of about 2cm in length and roll them across a fork or gnocchi board if you have one to create ridges. You can also leave them without ridges.
Finish the dish
Add a little olive oil to the boiling water and then carefully put a few gnocchi at a time into the boiling water. They will sink to the bottom and rise to the surface when cooked. Once they rise, remove them from the water using a slotted spoon and add them to the mushrooms. You will probably have to cook the gnocchi in batches.
Sauté the gnocchi and mushrooms together for a couple of minutes. If the sauce seems dry add some of the gnocchi cooking water or more butter. Serve immediately with a little more chopped parsley and grated cheese.
This recipe can be made with different types of fresh ricotta, cow's milk, sheep ricotta or a mixed ricotta. The original recipe is made with Seirass, ricotta from Piemonte.
The traditional version of this recipe is for fresh porcini but you can use a mixture of fresh mushrooms of your choice plus dried or frozen porcini.
Calories: 654kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 213mg | Sodium: 458mg | Potassium: 655mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1121IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 472mg | Iron: 4mg