Whole Wheat Ricotta Gnocchi with Garlic Brown Butter Sauce

So normally with gnocchi you'd use regular all purpose flour, right? Well, I decided to use whole wheat instead. It's just more convenient for me. Simply because I chose to pour my whole wheat flour in a big container and left the all purpose in the large bag to encourage me to use more whole wheat and less all purpose. I guess that plan worked. :)

Anywho, I read about this new technique for making gnocchi. It looked so cool so I just had to try it. I made it with a brown butter sauce. It was crazy soft. Maybe a little too soft because I had to handle the little guys super gentle and some of them would still break off a little in the water and when I cooked them in the sauce. Oh well. Maybe I'll try regular all purpose flour next time and see how it goes. But maybe it also has to do with the fact that I don't have a food processor and just used a whisk and hand blender. :O

Hubby and I definitely agreed that if I'm going to make this next time with the brown butter sauce, I'm going to have to mix in some crab or lobster chunks.


Whole Wheat Ricotta Gnocchi with Garlic Brown Butter Sauce
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 2 cups ricotta
• Pinch of salt & more
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 6 Tbsps butter
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
3. In a medium bowl, beat egg, pinch of salt and ricotta until creamy. Add in the flour and mix until just incorporated. Scoop the mixture into a Ziploc or pastry bag. If using a Ziploc bag, cut a small hole about the size of your finger in diameter.
4. Use a paring knife to cut off gnocchi pieces directly over the boiling salted water while squeezing the pastry/Ziploc bag. Cook until the gnocchi floats to the top. 
5. When cooked, use a slotted spoon to scoop out gnocchi onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Set aside while you work on your sauce.
6. In a large sauce pan, melt butter on medium heat and let brown. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. As soon as the butter starts going brown, turn down the heat to low and add the olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper to taste. Stir until the garlic is fragrant. 
7. Toss in gnocchi in the sauce until well coated. Serve as a side with a salad and some sort of protein or by itself.