If you’ve been craving spring vegetables, but it’s still a bit too chilly to move away from comfort food altogether — we present to you: Springtime Brown Butter Ricotta Gnocchi w/ Asparagus and Peas. It’s delicious, fresh, and provides all of the springtime flavors we’re craving this time of year, with that buttery, pillowy goodness from the ricotta gnocchi. Magnifique!
Springtime Brown Butter Ricotta Gnocchi w/ Asparagus and Peas
Simple ricotta gnocchi in brown butter with asparagus, spring peas, and lemon
Ingredients
- 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
- 10 tablespoons good unsalted butter, divided *we use Plugra
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup tender asparagus, thinly sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced sugar snap peas
- 2 small lemons
- fresh chives, minced
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- flaky sea salt
For the Gnocchi
- 24 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 extra large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour *we use Cup-4-Cup for gluten free
- 2 cups grated parmigiano reggiano
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add the peas. Cook for 3 minutes until tender. Transfer the peas to a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain the peas and set aside. Reserve the pot of water.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta and egg. Add 2 cups flour, the parmesan, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir until just combined. If the dough feels wet, add a 1/4 cup flour at a time until the dough can be formed into a ball. The dough should be sticky, but not so wet that it sticks to your hands.
- Generously flour the counter and scrape the dough out onto it. Cut the dough into four pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into a rope about 1-inch thick and cut into bite size pieces. Repeat this process, placing the gnocchi on a floured baking sheet. At this point, the gnocchi can be kept covered in the fridge for up to 1 day.
- Bring the pot of salted water back to a boil. Cook the gnocchi until they float to the top, about 3-4 minutes. Drain.
- Meanwhile, add 5 tablespoons of the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow to melt. Lower the heat to medium-low and add garlic. Continue to cook until the butter is golden brown, being careful not to burn the garlic.
- In a separate skillet, melt the remaining butter over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and snap peas. Quickly saute 1-2 minutes. Stir in peas to heat through. Remove from the heat and stir in lemon zest and lemon juice. Add salt to taste.
- Transfer the gnocchi to the brown butter, and allow them to toast for 1-2 minutes. Plate the gnocchi, and top with the brown butter and vegetables over top. Garnish with fresh chives, sea salt and black pepper.
