Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi with Pancetta and Peas

To all of those out there who find making potato gnocchi a little bit...well...precarious, you will love this recipe. You want them to be light and fluffy but occasionally they become a little chewy. It can take years of practice (believe me I know), but this ricotta based gnocchi is light and delicious every time!

Gnocchi is of course, Italian and are meant to be light dough balls made with potato. This is a Tuscan recipe called malfatti (the word literally means "poorly made" - but then I say easily made and tastier!) and is made with ricotta, spinach, flour and parmesan. Light as a cloud and after boiling can be dropped straight into a rich sauce or in this case, lightly fried with pancetta and peas. Its lovely.

Ingredients:           (Serves 2-3)

250g ricotta
2oz frozen spinach
1/2 whisked egg
2 tbsp. parmesan
1 (4.5 oz.) cup flour
90g pack pancetta slices
150g (1 cup) frozen peas
2-3 tbsp. cream
oil & parmesan, to serve

Method:    

Defrost the spinach in a little boiling water for 5 minutes, then squeeze as much water out of it as you can. Put into a hand blender. Add half of the ricotta with the half egg and blend until combined. Put into a larger bowl and mix in the remaining ricotta and the parmesan.

Add the flour in two batches, mixing well to make a soft dough; knead gently. On a floured work surface, and floured hands, half the dough into two balls. Roll the first out to make a long sausage shape about a foot long. Cut into 1 inch pieces. Take each piece and make a fork indentation on the top. Put onto a plate covered with greaseproof paper and continue until all of the dough sausage is used up. Roll out the second ball of dough and continue.

Boil a large wide pan of water and add 1 tsp. salt. Add a layer of the gnocchi and cook until they rise to the top (should take a minute or two). If any are sticking onto the bottom, give them a nudge and they should rise. Take out the cooked ones while you cook the rest and when all finished, put them all back in the water together. Now drain in a colander which has the frozen peas in it to defrost them and set the colander containing the peas and gnocchi to one side.

Leaving four pancetta rashers as they are (for garnish) slice the rest. Heat the oil in a pan and fry both the rashers and the slices until crisp, drain on kitchen paper and set to one side. Add the gnocchi and peas to the same pan with the pancetta fat and cook for a few moments, until the peas and gnocchi are heated through and the is gnocchi is browning a little. Add the pancetta pieces back to the pan. Toss together. Add the cream and stir through.

Serve with the crispy pancetta slices, a drizzle of olive oil, salt & black pepper and a generous grating of parmesan. Eat and enjoy!