The tang of olives and tomato, the aroma of fresh herbs, the silky weight of a wicked butter sauce.
Ayden’s Ricotta Gnocchi With Tomato-Butter Sauce
Ingredients
Gnocchi
- 11/4 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 egg yolks
Tomato-Butter Sauce
- 1 sweet red pepper halved and seeded
- 11/2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 sprig basil
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 cup butter cubed, at room temperature
Garnish
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil divided
- 1 bunch asparagus trimmed and cut into 11/2-inch pieces
- 15 cherry tomatoes
- 15 black olives pitted
- 1 cup baby arugula
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese shaved
Instructions
Gnocchi
- In a bowl, stir together ricotta, Parmesan, flour and egg yolks, ensuring all the flour is incorporated, and form into a ball.
- Turn out onto lightly floured surface, and divide into quarters. Working with 1 quarter at a time and with floured hands, roll dough into a rope that’s about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick; cut into pieces that are ¾ inch (2 cm) long. Set aside on floured baking sheet.
- In large pot of boiling salted water, cook gnocchi, in batches, until floating and no longer doughy in centre, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to oiled tray to prevent sticking, and cover.
Tomato-Butter Sauce
- Tomato-butter sauce: In blender, combine cherry tomatoes and bell pepper, and purée until smooth. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into medium saucepan, pressing it through with bottom of spoon. Add basil and thyme, and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
- Discard basil and thyme, and continue cooking sauce over medium until it resembles a light paste. Remove from heat and stir in butter a few pieces at a time, stirring constantly until all the butter is incorporated and sauce has thickened. Cover to keep warm.
Garnish
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat; cook gnocchi until golden brown all over. Transfer to large plate and cover to keep warm.
- Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium-high heat; cook asparagus for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, olives and arugula, and remove from heat, tossing until arugula is wilted.
- Spoon a generous amount of tomato-butter sauce onto a serving plate, and top with gnocchi, asparagus mixture and Parmesan.
