Pan-fried Ricotta and Chive Gnocchi

Pan-fried gnocchi is my favorite kind.  They are soft little morsels with a buttery crust. This recipe serves 3. You can serve it as a main course, but it would also go very well as a side dish to a good steak. If you like pan-fried gnocchi, you can check out this recipe for Butternut squash gnocchi with sage butter, which is still my favorite so far.

Ingredients:

500gr russet potatoes (or kruimige aardappels as they are called here)

250gr ricotta

2 eggs

1/3 cup of chives, chopped (plus a bit more for garnish)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for garnish)

1 ½ cups flour plus extra for rolling

6 tablespoons of butter

6 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Boil the potatoes until they are completely cooked through, the time will depend on the sizes of the potatoes so try to get them all about the same size.  Drain them and allow to cool down.

Once the potatoes have cooled down, remove the skin and mash them in a large bowl. Make sure there are not any lumps. You want them to be as smooth as possible. Add the eggs and mix well. Then stir in the ricotta, Parmesan and chives. Add the flour and stir in until it is completely incorporated.

Sprinkle some flour on a smooth surface, grab 1/6 of the dough and start rolling it as if you are forming a large snake. Cut it into small pieces of about 2cm/1inch. Roll them in the palm of your hand to give them more shape. They don’t have to be perfect. If you want them to look a bit fancy you can also roll them on the back of a fork. Put the finished gnocchi aside and continue with the rest of the dough until it is all done.

Once all the gnocchi is done. Drop them into a large pot of boiling salted water.  When they start floating around in the top, give them 2 extra minutes and then drain them using a colandar.

You’ll have to pan-fry them in 2 batches.  Melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large nonstick pan, over medium-high heat. Add half of the gnocchi and fry them until they have a light brown crust. Then remove from the heat and repeat for the second batch. Once all the gnocchi are ready, divide them into 3 plates.

In the same pan, add the last 2 tablespoons of butter with olive oil. Cook until the butter has melted. Spoon the melted butter mixture over the served gnocchi. You will hear it sizzle. Sprinkle some Parmesan, chives, salt and pepper.