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Better ricotta gnocchi with kale pesto and pangrattato
Author: Claudia Brick
Ingredients
Ricotta gnocchi
  • 420 g fresh ricotta
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
  • 100-120 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
Kale pesto
  • 1 bunch of tuscan kale / cavalo nero leaves removed from the stems
  • 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (save half of this for the end)
  • 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
  • 1/2 clove garlic
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • water to loosen if needed
  • salt and pepper
Pangrattato
  • Sourdough bread enough to give you about 2 cups of crumbs. Fresh or day old is fine
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1-2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • red chill flakes (optional)
To serve -
  • lemon zest
  • grated pecorino / parmesan
  • remaining 1/4 cup toasted pinenuts
Instructions

  1. Put a large pot of water onto boil. Toast the pinenuts and set half aside to serve at the end.

  2. Make the pangrattato: blitz the bread to fine crumbs in a food processor/blender (remove the crusts first if particularly tough). Toast with a few tbsp olive oil in a pan with generous salt and pepper for 5-10 minutes until golden brown and crunchy. Taste for seasoning. Add chilli/lemon zest if you like. Set aside.

  3. To make the pesto: blanch the kale in your boiling water for 30 seconds then remove with tongs and drain in a colander (leave the pot boiling to cook the gnocchi).

  4. Combine the kale in a food processor/blender with the remaining pesto ingredients and blitz to a smooth paste - add a bit of extra water to loosen if needed.

  5. To make the gnocchi: if your ricotta seems very wet/watery, press between a few layers of paper towels to remove as much of the excess liquid as you can (the less flour you have to add to the gnocchi, the lighter they end up)

  6. Stir together the ricotta, egg, egg yolk and parmesan with a fork until relatively cohesive and not lumpy. Season with salt and black pepper.

  7. Add 100g flour and gently stir to just combine. Add 1-2 tbsp extra flour if it seems particularly wet - you just need to be able to roll it out on a flour dusted surface.

  8. Divide it into 4 pieces. On a floured surface, roll each out into a long snake then cut into 1-2cm pieces with a sharp knife.

  9. In batches, add the gnocchi to boiling water and cook until they float to the surface (a few minutes). Scoop out with a slotted spoon and transfer straight into a large lightly oiled pan on low heat. When they’re all cooked, save a scoop of extra gnocchi cooking water for the sauce.

  10. Add the pesto to the gnocchi and gently stir to coat. Add a splash of cooking water to loosen if needed.
  11. Serve up with extra grated parmesan, lemon zest, toasted pinenuts and generous scatter of pangrattato.