Annie’s Lemon Gnocchi

Hi Annie and Liza,
I’m missing you bunches and thinking of you this summer! I hear that you have been cooking and spending time together, and it makes me think of how lucky I am to cook and spend time with my family at home, too. My mom and I made our favorite recipe today, lemon gnocchi with homemade marsala tomato sauce. Gnocchi is a type of pasta that is made from cheese and flour, so you know it’s yummy! It’s a family recipe that my Nana passed down to me, and we even have a special tool for making the gnocchi that her sister brought all the way from Italy. But you don’t need any extra tools, just your hands and a bowl, and you can make fancy homemade pasta! I hope that someday soon we can make these gnocchi together, so you can show me all of your new talents. Until then, big hugs from Western PA, and I hope you’re eating your summer veggies!

–Love, Big Annie

ANNIE’S LEMON GNOCCI
Ingredients:
15 oz (1 container) of ricotta cheese, full fat15 oz of Flour ~  pro-tip, you can just measure using the ricotta container1 large egg1.5 tsp salt (I like the grainy kind)1.5 tsp pepperZest of 1 lemon

Directions:
1. Pour the ricotta into a bowl
2. Zest the lemon into the ricotta
3. Add the salt and pepper (in whatever amount you like!)
4. Whisk it all together really well, and give it a taste! Add more lemon zest, salt, or pepper to your liking.
5. Whisk the egg into the ricotta mixture.
6. Fill up the ricotta container to the top with flour. Level it off with the back of a knife.
7. Dump the flour on a clean counter and make a crater in the middle, so it looks like a wide, flat volcano that is big enough to fit the ricotta cheese mixture.
8. Put the ricotta mixture in the crater.
9. Little by little, pull flour from the crater walls and mix it into the center until all of the dry ingredients are mixed with the wet.
10. Knead your gnocchi dough just a little bit, until it holds together. You don’t want to over-mix it, or the gnocchi will be gummy. It should look something like Play-Dough!
11.Cover it with a wet towel while you make your gnocchi shapes.
12. To make the gnocchi, roll pieces of the dough into snakes that are about 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick, or just as fat as you want your gnocchi to be!
13. Cut the dough snake into inch-long chunks and place your gnocchi on a floured plate or baking sheet.
*14. CAREFULLY drop the gnocchi into salted boiling water and remove with a slotted spoon when they float, about 2-3 minutes.15. Drench in your favorite sauce!

*You can also freeze the uncooked gnocchi and drop individual servings into boiling water whenever you want a tasty treat!