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Gnocchi In Ricotta Cream Sauce With Truffles

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Gnocchi In Ricotta Cream Sauce With Truffles

gnocchi in ricotta cream sauce 3
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Gnocchi in ricotta cream sauce with truffles is inspired by Spiaggia in Chicago. Our meal there was wonderful and their soft pillowy gnocchi, smothered in cream sauce with truffles is heavenly.

Time To Make The Gnocchi

I had to learn to make gnocchi for this and it’s not hard, but it is tricky. I studied Sarah Gruenberg’s video and read everything I could before my first attempt. Sarah’s cryptic comment about being a two day process  hoodwinked me into resting the dough overnight. That made a sticky mess and ruined my first attempt. Two more tries, testing red and gold potatoes yielded edible gnocchi, but on the fourth I got it right.

I’m going to shepherd you through the process, so you only have to do it once.

Soft, pillowy gnocchi begin with the potatoes. You can use red or gold, but the lightest, most tender gnocchi are made with russets. Reds and golds are too waxy and while they are easy to make gnocchi with, it’s a firmer, chewier bite.

Avoiding Common Problems

Sticky wet or dry and chewy are the two most common failures when making gnocchi. Follow my directions to properly cook and dry the potatoes and work quickly peeling and ricing them. Cold potatoes equal wet and sticky dough. Too much extra flour kneading and rolling the dough makes dry and chewy gnocchi.

About The Shape

The blunt, torpedo cigar shape is my homage to Spiaggia, using their method. A traditional fork rolled gnocchi works equally well.

 

  • Author: TJ

Ingredients

Scale

cream and ricotta cream ricotta and parmesan

Ricotta Cream Sauce – enough for 125 Gnocchi

  • 1 part (16 oz) whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 1 part (16 oz) heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup finely grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
  • 1 TBL milk
  • Salt to taste

Gnocchi

  • 1 lb. small russet potatoes (do not use giant baking size)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 medium size egg – lightly beaten

Gnocchi In Ricotta Cream Sauce with Truffles

Italian black winter truffles

  • 20– 25 gnocchi per person for a main course, half that as an appetizer
  • Proportional serving of ricotta cream sauce
  • 1 oz fresh black winter truffle – divided proportionally

Instructions

Ricotta Cream Sauce

  1. Grate the cheese in a food processor to create the finest powder possible
  2. Add the cream, ricotta and milk to a deep heavy bottom sauce pot and warm on low heat while stirring to combine. Do not overheat attempting to speed up the process and scorch your sauce!
  3. When it is warm, add the parmesan cheese and stir well to combine
  4. Salt to taste, pour into a blender and process until it is creamy smooth
  5. Let it cool and transfer to an air-tight container
  6. Refrigerate until ready to serve

Making the Dough

premix loaf

  1. Boil your potatoes with the peel on in well salted water for 30 minutes
  2. Mix the flour and salt together
  3. Lightly flour a baking sheet and set aside
  4. Pour out the water, return the pot to the warm stove, cover and steam off the remaining water until your potatoes are completely dry, about 3-5 minutes
  5. Pour about half the salted flour onto your clean work surface and reserve the rest
  6. Lightly beat the egg and set aside
  7. Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that will fit into your ricer
  8. Rice the potatoes on top of the flour leaving a slight well in the center
  9. Pour your egg over the potatoes and flour
  10. Spread the reserved flour over it, quickly mix with your hands and knead until combined
  11. Knead and form it into a nice dough log
  12. Note: This shouldn’t take more than three minutes. Don’t overwork your dough or it will become a cold, sticky mess

cut dough raw gnocchi

Forming the Gnocchi

  1. Cut off 1/4th of the dough log and roll it into a 3/4 inch diameter rope
  2. Cut the rope into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces
  3. Gently flatten a piece in your upturned palm with your thumb, then rollit by hand between your palms into a short, blunt torpedo cigar shape about 2 to 2-1/2 inches long
  4. Place them on the pre-floured baking sheet to prevent sticking
  5. Repeat the process until all the dough is used
  6. Rest the dough for 20 minutes before blanching
  7. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to a fast simmer
  8. Prepare a separate large bowl with half ice and half water
  9. Drizzle a separate baking sheet lightly with olive oil
  10. Working in batches of 15-20, blanch the gnocchi in the simmering water until they float to the top, about 2 minutes. Stir for a moment after placing them in the pot to prevent sticking to the bottom, or each other
  11. Strain out the gnocchi with a spider and immerse into the ice bath to shock them and stop the cooking, about 30 seconds
  12. Remove, shake off excess water and place them on the oiled baking sheet
  13. Gently swirl them to coat with oil
  14. Repeat the process until all the gnocchi are blanched
  15. Place the gnocchi in an air-tight container and refrigerate until you are ready to use

gnocchi ready to sauce

 

Gnocchi In Ricotta Cream Sauce with Truffles

saucing the gnocchi sauced gnocchi

  1. Add a proportional amount of cream sauce and gnocchi to a non-stick sauce pan over medium low heat
  2. Stir gently with a spatula and serve when everything is warm/hot, about 10-15 minutes
  3. Garnish with extra parmesan – optional
  4. Garnish with 3-5 shaven slices of black winter truffles

gnocchi in ricotta cream sauce 3

 

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