Hay, Hay It's Donna Day #14 - Gnocchi

First of all, I want to thank Barbara of winosandfoodies, for creating the very popular Hay, Hay, It's Donna Day blog event.Also, thanks to Laura of eatdrinklive for her excellent hosting of the previous HHDD #13.
For those of you reading about this event for the first time,Donna Hay is a food stylist and cook from Australia who has a superb magazine with the same name and loads of cookbooks with easy recipes and gorgeous photographs.

Issue 28, Winter 2006 of Donna Hay's magazine had an article on making homemade ricotta gnocchi which looked fantastic and not very difficult. After all, they were just dumplings and had only a few ingredients with simple directions. But it seemed a daunting task, especially when pre-packaged potato gnocchi was so convenient for a quick main or side dish. Ricotta gnocchi was totally new to me. Well, time went by and I got busy with other things.

Now that I have the privilege of hosting HHDD #14, it's a perfect time to pull out the magazine again to tackle Ricotta Gnocchi. Now that I have made the gnocchi, I feel confidant that you too can make it. It will be a challenge if you have never made gnocchi from scratch, but all of you are savvy food bloggers, so I'm sure you will be up for the task.


Here are the details:

* The gnocchi should be homemade and can be a main dish, salad, side or dessert. You can use any ingredient, such as cheese, potato or any other vegetable or fruit to make the gnocchi.

*Post your recipe no later than August 18, 2007. When you post, send an email with the HHDD #14 in the subject line to staranise.ld[at}gmail[dot]com. Include your name, the name of your recipe, your location, the name of your blog and the permalink to your post.

*Round-up posted and voting begins on August 25, 2007.

*Voting closed and winner announced on September 1, 2007.

Here's Donna's recipe from Issue 28, page 56.

Herb Gnocchi with Basil Oil

1 quantity basic gnocchi(recipe follows)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
sea salt and cracked black pepper
Parmesan cheese to serve

Basil Oil
1 cup chopped basil leaves, extra
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
sea salt and cracked black pepper

To make the basil oil, place the extra basil, oil, lemon juice, Parmesan, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped. Set aside.

Follow the basic gnocchi recipe, adding the lemon zest, mint, parsley, basil, salt and pepper to the mixture. Spoon the basil oil over the cooked gnocchi and toss to coat. Top with the Parmesan cheese. Serves 4

Basic Gnocchi

500 grams(1 lb) fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup plain all-purpose flour
sea salt and cracked black pepper

Place the ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine. Turn out the mixture on a lightly floured surface and roll into 4 15cm (6 in)long ropes. Cut into 2cm (3/4 in) lengths and press lightly with the back of a fork.

Place in a large saucepan of salted water over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook the gnocchi in batches for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon and place in serving bowls. Serves 4.















See prize for winner here.