Carrot Gnocchi

I think in my previous life (not that I believe in reincarnation, but...) I was either Asian or Italian. I love rice and pasta way too much for my own good.

A comfort meal for me it either has rice or pasta. I had a period where I could eat steamed rice with a little butter, that’s it! Nothing else! The same goes with pasta; my favorite type is aglio e olio. I can have it every day.

Talking about Italian food, I like to go deep into it. I’ve been making pasta from scratch for a while now; I can describe the difference that makes. Gnocchi is just a type of pasta.

Last December I assisted to a local book-signing and I decided to try one of the recipes in the book. More about the book click here: http://www.caribbeanspicegirl.com/about/

Gnocchi is a recipe that many people find it to be too elaborated, but in reality it is not. Especially with my technique, I do not use a gnocchi-machine or shape it with the fork, I use a pastry-bag with the star-end, in a matter of minutes I’m done, not to mention the texture.

The recipe I decided to try out from the book was pumpkin gnocchi; however my plans changed really quick when I looked in my fridge and there was no pumpkin; however I had a lot of carrots, so naturally I decided carrots would be the star of this gnocchi and I’m glad I did!

This recipe yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups of mashed carrots (oven-roasted)

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons of ricotta

1 egg

2 cups of double zero flour

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon cumin powdered

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, salt and pepper) together and then the wet ingredients (carrots, oil, ricotta, egg) mix until there is a homogenous dough.

2. Place the dough into a pastry bag, choose the star-end and pump out. Cut the strings into little square 2 cm long.

3. Bring a pot of water to boil, salt the water just like you would for cooking pasta.

4. Cook the gnocchi until the float to the surface.

5. Drain and place aside untill all are done, I like to give it a bit of texture, so I always place gnocchis in a teflon pan and crusted.

Tips:

1. The gnocchi it is great on it's own, but any sauce would do great. Butter with sage and toasted pumpkin seeds and you are ready to go.

2. OR wait on my next post with an amazing sauce for this gnocchi.

Enjoy!