One of our best friends, Jon Dee Graham, and I have been talking about making gnocchi together for years. Finally, we did and what a great time was had with Jon Dee, Gretchen, & William. Hell of a mess but sometimes the bigger the mess the better the food and this was one of those times. We made ricotta gnocchi. You could use potatoes…however I use my beautiful moms recipe and it is ricotta and flour. Helen DiMascio Richwine, my mother, was a fantastic cook and totally knew her way around the kitchen. She used ricotta instead of potatoes to make gnocchi after an bad experience she had using potatoes. The potato dumplings sank like the Titantic and never rose to the surface. Ricotta makes a lighter dough and I have never had these dumpling not rise to the occasion. We sauced our gnocchi with marinara and meatballs. WOW. Thank you Jesse for photos and dishwashing! Thank you David & Martha for cake!

Italian Gnocchi (Dumplings) by Helen DiMascio Richwine

• 32 oz Ricotta Cheese – I used part skim
• 4 cups of flour

Place ricotta cheese in a large bowl, add one cup of flour at a time until a dough forms. Add a little flour at a time until the dough is no longer sticky. Roll dough out until about a finger thin, then cut into 2 inch pieces.  Roll the pieces off of a fork so the dumplings have a ridge, this step is optional, better to hold the sauce. Place in a large pot of boiling water and cook until they rise to the surface. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

Serves 6