Gnocchi, Heirloom Cherry Tomato and Whipped Ricotta

Potato Gnocchi is usually known to be hearty and comforting dish but I have given a light spring twist to this recipe with this tomato and whipped ricotta.

Please note that I used frozen gnocchi to make this a quick dish however, feel free to make your own fresh gnocchi or use leftover frozen gnocchi and even though I used leftover roasted chicken this is not necessary, and can be totally omitted or replaced with any other veggie like mushrooms, zucchini or seafood like shrimp, lobster or crab meat. The absolute key to this dish is the simple technique I used to toss the gnocchi with the tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil. While brown butter is very traditional with gnocchi it can also make the dish very rich and a bit heavy so by using a little extra virgin olive oil and a bit of the pasta water instead this dish gets a nice light spring twist and you don't even miss the brown butter.

Ingredients

Whipped Ricotta

1 cup ricotta
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tsp sea salt

Gnocchi and Cherry Tomato

140g Gnocchi
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
1/2 cup shredded roasted chicken
2tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Fresh basil to garnish
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Step 1: Whipped Ricotta

Place the ricotta, extra virgin olive oil and salt in a food processor and pulse on low until its fully whipped and emulsified.

Add your whipped ricotta to a Ziplock bag and cut the bottom corner of tip of it to use it as a piping bag and set aside to add the ricotta to your dish at the end.

Step 2: Preheat Cookware

The very first step to cooking any dish properly is to get all your prep work done. In this case the only prep work needed for this recipe would be to half your tomatoes, set a stockpot halfway full of water over high heat to bring to a boil and a sauté pan over medium heat.

Step 3: Cook your gnocchi and your Cherry Tomatoes

This next step is where all the magic happens because our gnocchi will only take about two minutes to cook and the tomatoes also should only take about a couple of minutes to sauté, this dish will come together very quickly in this step. First, we are going to place the gnocchi in the salted boiling water and allow them to cook for about 2 minutes or until they start floating.

While the gnocchi are cooking add extra virgin olive oil to the sauté pan until it shimmers.

Add the cherry tomatoes, chicken and season with salt and pepper

Add the gnocchi to the tomato and chicken mixture as soon as they start to float which should not take longer than 2 minutes. If using frozen gnocchi, they may not necessarily float so again you should not let them boil for more than two minutes. At this point you want to add the gnocchi to the tomato mixture along with a little pasta water and toss for about 2 more minutes to allow everything to come together.

Step 4: Serve

To serve add a good spoonful of your gnocchi mixture to a plate, add a few dollops of the whipped ricotta into it and finish with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil. Enjoy!