Ricotta Gnocchi

Gnocchi are little dumplings served more like an Italian pasta with sauce then like a Polish dumpling which would be stuffed. Well made gnocchi are soft, light in texture, but rich in flavor from the egg used to make them. More times then not, you will see them made from potato, but ones made from ricotta cheese are my favorites and might be the most favorite thing that I make for my friend Leia. This one's for you Lady Leia! (My bari friends, this is probably not appropriate for you, as they are a bit chewy and can come out heavy.)

1 pound ricotta cheese
1 cup (approx) all purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Place a fine grain strainer in a bowl (be sure the strainer doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl). Dump the ricotta into strainer. Cover and let sit in ice box for 1 hour to remove any excess liquid from cheese. Discard any excess liquid.
2. Put ricotta in bowl, add 1/2 cup flour and all other ingredients. Mix dough (be sure to use only one hand so that you keep the other hand clean/dry. Add more flour as you mix dough until you can form it into a ball that holds its shape, but that is still sticky. I frequently will use more then the 1 cup of flour to do this. Once dough is formed. Cover it in the bowl and chill in ice box another 30 minutes.
3. Remove from ice box. Divide dough into 4 equal sized portions. Starting with one portion, roll it into a log shape that is about the size of penny in diameter (you will need to dust the counter top with flour to be able to do this). Once you have it rolled into a dowel looking like object, cut the gnocchi about 1/2" wide. Place each little gnocchi in rows on a cookie sheet dusted with flour. Repeat until all gnocchi are cut. Cover and place in ice box until ready to cook (up to 24 hours).
4. To cook - boil a pot of water (like you would for pasta). On the burner next to the water set up your next cooking station which is a saute pan with about 1 tablespoon of butter in it. Working in batches, place some of the gnocchi into the boiling water, DO NOT STIR (when you do this, turn on the heat under saute pan to medium and let butter melt and heat up). Let gnocchi cook for about 4 minutes, if you do not see them starting to rise to surface take a spoon and carefully scrape it across the bottom of pan to release the gnocchi. As they start to rise to the surface, remove them from water with a strainer or slotted spoon and place into melted butter. You will let them brown in the butter on all sides and then they are ready to be put into ta serving dish. Now put more gnocchi into water as the first batch is browning, repeat these two steps, adding more butter to the pan for each browning session until all gnocchi are cooed. (I like to have a helper at this point to brown the gnocchi - this is usually Leia's job! so that the browning gnocchi don't burn and so that the boiling ones don't overcook).

Serve with a sauce like a meat ragu or with roasted vegetables
ENJOY!