Forever Autumn

A bunch of people at Nigella.com joked a little while back how summer is completely overrated, and they preferred the coolness of autumn or even the cold that winter brings -- though I doubt that some of them have experienced New York blizzards! LOL. They even said that Nigella's next book should be called Forever Autumn. Though I don't really like cool weather, detest rain, there is just something so wonderful about the first cool days after a sweltering summer. Today was grey all day. The rain outside was more like a mist - almost made you feel like you were walking through a sprinkler. You smell autumn in the air. The salad days are far behind and all people could think about is hot chocolate, warm duvets, popcorn, tea with milk and honey.

With the ricotta I had left over from Tom's spaghetti recipe, I felt like I had to make something before it went to waste. I thought perhaps Nigella's baked pasta shells with ricotta and spinach, but I couldn't find jumbo shells after work. Then I looked up 'ricotta' in the index to Apples for Jam and thus I started on my journey of lovely autumn cooking.

The only entry under 'ricotta' is Ricotta Gnocchi. I love gnocchi, but I was a bit dubious about making it myself, and most importantly, if it would be any good or not. I looked at the ingredients and figured that if it was a waste, I wouldn't have ruined loads of expensive ingredients.

Well, it was ridiculously easy! Tessa says to serve it with tomato pesto, but I didn't really feel like blitzing so took my time in making a lovely and aromatic tomato sauce. Have a look yourself!

(click on the pic to see the lovely texture of the gnocchi! Trust me!)

And here's the recipe I came up with, if you're interested. Tessa's recipe, of course, was not adapted in any way. When I made it for myself, I quartered the recipe to make one serving, but I am including the ingredients for two servings.

Giacomo's Ricotta Gnocchi with Homemade Rosemary Tomato Sauce -- serves 2

Homemade Rosemary Tomato Sauce

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
leaves from 1 sprig of rosemary
1 small onion, chopped finely
about 1 cup passata (sieved tomatoes)
about 1/4 cup water
sea salt to taste

In a small pan, warm extra virgin olive oil. Add the garlic and rosemary. Let the flavor of the oil develop on a gentle heat for about five minutes. Add the onion to the pan with some sea salt. Put the lid on and let the onions sweat for five minutes. Then, add the passata and water. Add a bit more sea salt and bring to a boil. Then simmer covered on a very low heat for ten minutes. Keep warm while you get on with the gnocchi.

Ricotta Gnocchi: (from Apples for Jam)

250g (9 oz.) good-quality ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
50g (1 3/4 oz.) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 quantity Homemade Rosemary Tomato Sauce (above)
Parmesan shavings to serve
Handful pine nuts

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Mix together the ricotta, parmesan, flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. With lightly floured hands, roll out the dough into thin sausages (about 1.5 cm/ 5/8 inch thick). Try to avoid adding extra flour or your gnocchi will be tough. Cut with a sharp knife into little dumplings and about 2 cm (3/4 inch) long.

Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and cook for about 45 seconds until they float to the surface. As they bob up, lift them out with a slotted spoon and put them into warmed serving bowls. Drizzle on sauce and then pine nuts and a few parmesan shavings.

** I was so excited about sharing these recipes that I forgot to mention how delicious this was! Sooo delicious! I thought the gnocchi would be bland bland bland, but they weren't! Not in the slightest; they were light and fantastic! I think Tessa says they are something like fluffy pillows - what an accurate description. And not to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT! My sauce was fab! Mmmmmm.