Skip to main content

Roasted Beet & Ricotta Gnocchi with Wilted Beet Greens

With R at robotics till 7 o'clock on Valentines' Day, D and I had plenty of time to make a nice family dinner. We served it just as soon as they walked in the door. To make them pink, I added some beet puree to my ricotta gnocchi. I used the beet greens in the sauce. And the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf was a great help in rolling the gnocchi. We put on some Fleetwood Mac and went to town.

Ingredients
Gnocchi
  • 2 to 3 small red beets with greens attached (I actually used all 6 beets for the dinner, but only 2 to 3 in this recipe)
  • 1⁄4 C olive oil
  • freshly ground salt
  • 2 C whole-milk ricotta
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1-1⁄4 C gluten-free flour + more for rolling
  • 1 C grated Pecorino Romano + more for serving
  • dash of grated nutmeg
  • freshly ground pepper

Sauce
  • 3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 to 2 C beet greens
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T butter
  • 2 T aged balsamic vinegar + more for drizzling

Procedure
Roasted Beets
Separate the greens from the beets. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scrub and trim the beets, then roll them in olive oil and sprinkle them with salt. Lay them on a baking sheet. Roast until they are fork tender. It depends on the size of the beet, but it usually takes about an hour. Once they are cool enough to handle, rub off the skin.

Rinse and dry the beet greens. Chop them into 1" pieces.

Gnocchi
Place 2 to 3 small beets into the bowl of a food processor. Process until nicely chopped. Add in the ricotta and process until well-combined and a uniform pink color.

Spoon the beet-ricotta mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add in the egg, cheese, nutmeg, and pepper. Add flour, stirring with a silicone spatula to form a soft, wet dough.


Shape dough on a parchment-lined surface with lightly floured hands. Roll into 1" ropes and cut crosswise into 1" pieces with a lightly floured knife to form pillow dumplings.


To form the gnocchi, press a piece of dough onto the tines of a fork. Use your thumb to create a dimple in the top of the gnocchi. Roll the dough down the tines to create gnocchi's signature indentations.


Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet until you're ready to cook them.


Cook gnocchi in a few batches in a pasta pot of boiling salted water with a splash of olive oil. Add a few to the pot at a time, stirring occasionally. When they float to the surface, they are finished. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain in colander.

Sauce
In a large, flat-bottom pot, heat olive oil. Cook garlic until softened. Stir in the beet greens and cook until wilted. Once your gnocchi are all cooked, add butter to the beet greens. When the butter is melted, lay the gnocchi in the pan in a single layer, if possible, tossing to coat with the butter. When the gnocchi have browned a little bit, sprinkle the entire dish with more Pecorino. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Serve hot.

Comments

  1. What a great Valentine's Day meal - I love beets and would love to recreate your recipe. Haven't used gluten-free flour before but, with my husband's new diet, it will come in handy.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an