Beet Gnocchi— made BETTER.
This. Is. Divine.
Y’all might remember that I went wild over a picture of beet gnocchi (pause: beets are without a doubt the most color-giving food I’ve come across. Explore!). Well, what’s better than pink gnocchi? Pink AND orange gnocchi. Muah-ha-ha.
Pink (beet) Gnocchi:
To save a lot of time, you can buy pre-cooked beets. If you can’t find them, you’ll need to roast them (about 45-60 min in a 450F oven, wrapped individually in tin foil. They’re done when easily pierced).
Once you have cooked, peeled beets, grate 3 smallish beets into a bowl. Use a cheese grater— the coarsest part. Mix in 1 cup part-skim ricotta, 3/4 cup parmesan cheese (you can do anywhere from 1/2 to 1 cup, depending on your taste preferences), 1 teaspoon white pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg. Add 1 cup of flour and mix well. This is your “dough”.
Using a teaspoon, scoop balls of dough onto a board/plate dusted with white flour, and roll lightly into a ball. Dent with a fork for good form :)
Every 5 balls you make, toss in a pot of boiling water. When they rise to the surface (about 90 seconds), fish them out and place in a bowl of ice water. Keep this process going until you’ve placed all your gnocchi in the ice water. You may have to continually add ice cubes to keep the water super cold.
Now drain your gnocchi from the ice water, and spread on a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can use some cooking spray to ensure the gnocchi don’t stick. Place the rack of gnocchi in a 350F oven for 10 minutes.
Your gnocchi are done! I think a simple olive oil and rosemary sauce is perfect; the gnocchi are so tasty on their own, they don’t need much. Simply heat some olive oil and rosemary in a shallow pan for 2 - 3 minutes, then pour on top of your gnocchi and toss carefully.
Orange (carrot) gnocchi
The cooking process for these is the same as above, but the “dough” changes:
Peel and slice 2 lbs of carrots. Boil until soft.
Place 3 teaspoons finely chopped shallot into a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the shallots are soft, place the cooked carrots into the pan and cook 5 minutes.
Put contents of pan into a bowl, and puree using an immersion blender. You can also use a food processor, if you have one!
Add 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup flour, 3 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon white pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and freshly grated nutmeg (to taste, but i would say 1/4 a whole nutmeg).
With this dough, simply scoop using two teaspoons into a ball-like shape, and put directly in the boiling water (no flour).
Follow the same process with the ice bath and the 10 minute bake.
(all photos by Mia Tramz)
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