Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi with Mushrooms

5 from 29 votes

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

Cook Time30

Course: homemade gnocchi, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian, Northern Italy, Piedmont-Piemonte

Keyword: gnocchi, homemade gnocchi, mushrooms, porcini, ricotta, ricotta gnocchi

Servings:

Calories: 654kcal

Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Start to make the gnocchi dough

Mix and knead all the gnocchi ingredients together ( I did it in a bowl). First using a fork and then by hand. Put the dough in the fridge covered with plastic wrap for half an hour.

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.

Notes

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.

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