A recipe that looks complex, but comes together very simply. I love how the store-bought gnocchi you find in stores can be boiled or sautéed, so we’re capitalizing in this recipe. The whole dish comes together in one pan after we make a pesto and mix up some ricotta. The final recipe comes out so vibrantly green with pockets of lemony ricotta and glimpses of sun-dried tomatoes.
Pesto can be whatever you make it when you understand the components. Traditional basil pesto’s can get old quickly and expensive. Fresh basil doesn’t last very long and costly with pine nuts and good parmesan cheese. Good new! You don’t always need to use nuts or cheese for example. This pesto uses fresh spinach and fresh parsley as the main green flavor source. Parsley is the opposite of basil in the way it’s super cheap and lasts double the length of time. It has a lemony herbaciousness to it that is quite toned down in a lot of ways.
Let’s blend the pesto and start toasting the gnocchi in a pan. A wide pan works best so all the gnocchi have room to touch the pan. As they toast they will also steam and get sticky, so having that space is crucial to having them not stick.
A great touch to add protein or an elevated note to pasta is using ricotta. Quite flavorless cheese that can be a vessel for whatever you’d like to add. I mix my ricotta with a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice for a bright perky bite. Think of it like sour cream on nachos in this recipe.
What an easy dinner!
It’s a really easy way to get dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes, it’s exciting and it’s even a healthy pasta dish.
Spring Gnocchi & Ricotta
For gnocchi:
- 1 lb. premade potato gnocchi
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes
- Freshly cracked black pepper, for garnish
For pesto:
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For ricotta:
- 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
Preparation
- In a food processor, blend the spinach, parsley, parmesan cheese, garlic, chili, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Mix the ricotta, lemon, olive oil, and salt in a bowl until combined. Set aside.
- Pan-sear the gnocchi in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat with olive oil and melted butter. Cook for 6 - 8 minutes, tossing until crispy and golden on each side.
- Pour the pesto and sun-dried tomatoes into the pan, toss together, and turn off the heat.
- Dollop ricotta cheese all over the gnocchi, garnish with cracked black pepper over ricotta, and minced parsley. Bonus points to drizzle the final dish with sun-dried tomato jar oil.