This interesting pasta, hailing from the Italian region of Veneto, is made with a runny “dough” using the first ricotta that rises in the pot during the cheesemaking process. In effect, this “first ricotta” is a mix of ricotta and whey which is then thickened with flour and dropped by the spoonful into boiling water to cook. While most people aren’t in the practice of making homemade ricotta, the effect can be easily mimicked by mixing ricotta with milk (or even better with whey, if you can get your hands on some).
Gnocchi con la Fioretta can be served with a range of sauces, but in this recipe we’ve chosen to double-down on the cheese theme and prepare it with a rich, creamy Gorgonzola sauce.
Watch the Pasta Grammar video:
GNOCCHI CON LA FIORETTA RECIPE
Makes: 3 to 4 servings
Cook Time: 45 minutes
For the pasta, you will need:
5.25 ounces (150 g) ricotta
Salt
Whole milk or whey, as needed (~200 ml, a little less than a cup)
All-purpose flour, as needed (~100 g, a little less than a cup)
For the sauce, you will need
2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter
6 ounces (170 g) gorgonzola cheese
3 tablespoons (45 ml) whole milk
A pinch of grated nutmeg
Place the ricotta and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Gradually add milk while whisking, until you achieve a runny mixture with small crumbles of ricotta. The idea here is to simulate the consistency of the first ricotta that rises in a pot while making cheese. We highly recommend watching the video above to see what it should look like, but don’t sweat it too much because you can always adjust the consistency later with flour.
While continuing to whisk, gradually add flour until the mixture thickens into a consistency similar to frosting: when you scoop it up with the whisk, the ricotta mix should very slowly descend and fall from the utensil.
Put a large pot of water on to boil and salt it generously. While the water heats up, melt the butter in a large pan over medium/low heat. Turn the heat down to low, add the gorgonzola, 3 tbsp. of milk and the nutmeg into the pan, and gently stir to melt the cheese. Keep the sauce warm over very low heat, stirring occasionally, while you cook the pasta.
Scoop up a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta mixture and pass it back and forth between two spoons to give it some shape, then carefully drop it into the water. Repeat to shape and drop the rest of the ricotta mix. Whenever one of the dumplings rises to the surface of the water, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and transfer into the cheese pan.
When all of the pasta is cooked and in the pan, turn the heat up slightly and gently toss all together until the pasta is well-coated in sauce. Serve immediately, topped with any extra cheese sauce from the pan.
Buon appetito!