ricotta gnocchi

I have made a lot of potato gnocchi, but a few weeks ago I had some really amazing ricotta gnocchi in manhattan and wanted to try and replicate it at home.  Honestly it is so much easier than potato gnocchi and I think even tastes better.  Even for those of you that do not like ricotta, you would not even know it is made from it!

Serves around 4
One 16-ounce container whole-milk ricotta
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan  cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 cup flour

Combine all of these things together until well incorporated. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. You want the consistency to me not wet, yet not dry when you take it out and roll it into your typical gnocchi "log." It should be somewhat wet, but if it is sticking to your hands at all add a little more flour. 

Once you roll the dough into a log and cut your sections freeze them on a plate for about 15 minutes before you boil them.  When you boil them and they bob to the surface they are almost done, let then cook for another minute or so. 

Proceed to cook them in whatever sauce you desire in a saute pan. 

 

mother's day

since my mom passed away I usually like to do something a little non traditional for mother's day - basically anything that doesn't remind me of it! This year my very long time friend Jess (who also lost her mom to breast cancer years before I did) decided to spend the day in Manhattan. 

Bolognese at dell'anima

Big Gay Ice Cream

These two pups meeting for the first time!

I love greenwhich village

Had to stop to bring home a cookie!

ny weekend - part 2 eating

obviously one of my favorite parts of spending any time in Manhattan is eating! I mentioned a while back that while in Napa for Pigs & Pinot, the chef/owner from Crispo made one of the best pasta dishes I've ever had. And Aly remembered me mentioning that and got us reservations when I went to visit her.

The food was great, very classic, and the atmosphere was stellar.  We sat in an area in the very back that almost seemed like you were outside - maybe they open it up for summer I am not sure. It was very very cool and delicious. 

Proscuitto

Ricotta gnocchi with duck sausage, ramps and roasted tomatoes

Classic - spaghetti and meatballs.

pastoral

I have been itching to try pastoral since they opened up a few weeks ago. I'm a pizza freak! 

I was really impressed with their menu. There were so many things that sounded so good that I wanted to try! Way more than just pizza! All of their pasta dishes sounded amazing. We ended up ordering the prosciutto pizza because our waiter highly recommended it (and we were struggling to choose!) Along with a lobster carbonara special. And fried olives. 

Everything honestly was amazing. I find a lot of times people tend to make this type of pizza too thin and it won't stand up to the toppings, but this pizza had the optimal thickness for me, it was just chewy enough and cooked exactly right. The pasta was handmade and just a fantastic combination of ingredients--lobster, pancetta, peas, egg.  The fried olives had such a great flavor and just enough breading.

The only thing I was not crazy about was the wine on tap. I had both the cabernet and the pinot grigio. I would imagine a lot of people complain that they serve the wine in a drink glass and not a wine glass. I get trying to be trendy, but wine should be served in a wine glass even if it's stemless. 

Can't wait to go back and try more things!

Fried Olives

This glass for wine?

Prosciutto Pizza

Lobster Carbonara

tortellini video

here is a video (not the best quality ever) of making a tortellini! 

easy! 

tortellini making

On a rainy day nothing is better than making some comfort food. This is my first time making homemade tortellini on my own - which I learned last week at Stir (a blog post on that soon).

At this point I am going to let you work with your own dough recipe, or look one up. But for the filling, which I have never done before you will need chicken, egg, cream, garlic (and really anything else you might want to add, I added mushrooms). I used the leftover chicken from a roasted chicken I made the night before, so it had already been cooked and seasoned. But you can use whatever kind of chicken! Put this all in a food processer.

2 chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 cream
3 garlic cloves
salt, pepper, rosemary etc to taste.  

Once this is blended put this in a piping bag (or like me a Ziploc).  For my broth I collected the chicken fat from the prior nights roasted chicken and added about a half cup of broth (or water.)

Blended up filling

Press out your dough to almost the thinnest setting

Sheets ready to cut into circles (use a cookie cutter).

Add a tiny bit of filling. DO NOT OVERFILL. Wet the outer circle.

Fold into a half moon. Wet the edges again to ensure everything is closed up.

Meet the sides.

Finished product in semolina. Freeze for 20 minutes.

Tortellini in chicken fat with a little broth.