Ricotta Gnocchi- A Great Dinner in About 20 Minutes- Add a Dinner Roll and You're Basically Italian!

A quick, easy recipe for you starch-lovers out there.  I made this the other night and it was delicious!  It was healthy-ish, heavy enough for dinner but light enough for before bed, and an amazing consistency- somewhere in between a dumpling and a twice-baked potato. Gnocchi is an Italian dish usually made with potatoes shredded and combined with a few ingredients.  you can substitute the potato with ricotta cheese, which is what I did.  You plop them in water and when they float, they're done!  I threw them in a skillet with butter for a few minutes, tossed with a little ricotta and Parmesan cheese and dinner was done!  Total time: 20 minutes. 

Here is all that you need to know:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup low fat ricotta cheese, + more for the sauce
1 Large egg yolk
1/3- 1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese, + more for the sauce
Lemon Zest
Salt
1 Cup All- purpose flour, + more for dusting
3-4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

To do:

1. Mix the cheeses, yolk, zest, and a pinch of salt.  Sift (Or shake- it works well this way too.  Or you can whisk before adding it.  Just add air is the rule of thumb.) 1/2 Cup flour over the mixture.  Use a rubber spatula to fold it together.  Tip:  Do not over mix this!  Just until the flour is mostly absorbed is good.
2. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface.  "Sift" the remaining 1/2 Cup flour over the dough and, using your fingers, mix it in gently- again, don't over mix.
3. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  I always sprinkle a little salt in the water to help this process along.  Divide your dough into equal pieces.  Roll these pieces out into a log about 1/2 inch thick.  Tip: roll each piece into equal-thickness logs.  This will help when they get in the pot.  Use a knife or pan scraper to cut the logs into pieces- again, try to cut them equally thick so they cook evenly. (you can get fancy and score the tops of the pieces with a fork, knife, or indent with your fingers.  If you want to you can or you can got my route and just let it look like it did when I cut it.)
4. When the water is ready, drop the pieces into the pot.  When they float, after about a minute or two, scoop them out with a slotted spoon or spider, and drain.  Rinse them off and let drain some more.  I set a colander over a bowl next to the pot for easy maneuvering.  I even used the same bowl I used to mix the first step in.  Hey, less dishes means a happier clean up, am I right?!
5. While the dumplings are draining, heat a large skillet with 1/2 the butter (1 1/2- 2 Tablespoons).  When it starts to sizzle and smells amazing, add the dumplings and don't touch them for a few minutes.  You are browning them, so let them brown!
6. After a few minutes, add the other 1/2 butter and toss to combine.  I let them sit just a bit longer on the opposite side that had just browned to even out the color.
7. Remove from heat, add as much ricotta and Parmesan as you deem necessary (I used about a 1/2 Cup ricotta and 1/3 Cup Parmesan), and dish up!

Now, here is where you can get creative:

~ Think about using a red sauce.  A tasty marinara would be delicious.
~ Don't be afraid to add spices to the dough.  When you are adding the flour, sift in spices with it.  I was thinking about traditional Italian spices like oregano and thyme, but rosemary and garlic salts would be yummy too. 
~Also, other cheese would be interesting.  This could be the best mac n' cheese ever!  Sharp Cheddar- white or yellow- would be delightful.
~ Add pine nuts and a light pesto- think outside the box.
~ This doesn't have to be a pasta-like meal.  This could make an amazing starter.  I'm seeing tooth picks inserted into each dumpling, with different infused oil sauces and interesting spices mixed into the dumpling, like cardamon and marjoram.
~ Go wild or stay safe- I read a great quote the other day, "you can't fail if you never stop trying."  So get in the kitchen and try this out!  Believe me, it's hard to mess up!  Just don't over mix...