Ricotta Gnocchi with Grafitti Eggplant

If you have been following this blog, you already know that there always seems to be one elusive ingredient. We would like to tell you the whole story, but here is what we can tell you: the most sought after item this week was the graffiti eggplant, which we found at Whole Foods (Friday night, of course).  Interestingly, graffiti eggplant is a somewhat pricey item here in Reno at $5.99 a pound. Depending on where you live and your access to farmers markets, they may be more available in your area.  The recipe called for one eggplant, but Sue threw caution to the wind and purchased two, just because she found them, and they were so pretty. (It’s OK to express excitement in the produce aisle when no one knows who you are.)  

We served the gnocci with a salad of mixed spring greens and a basic vinaigrette. Our vinaigrette included a touch of Dijon, red wine vinegar, dried chives and mixed Italian herbs. It was tart and complimented the round flavors of the gnocchi.

When planning this meal, we talked about ending with a double espresso vodka shot, and Meg thought we should have some sort of chocolate ice cream. There was no vodka in the ice cream but carob, espresso and cream made it in! We are not sharing the recipe yet, but one day soon . . . further taste testing is required, over and over and over.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Stewed Eggplant, Garlic, Red Pepper and Oregano

Recipe courtesy Michael Symon 

Total Time:  1 hr 15 min

Prep: 30 min

Inactive Prep: 15 min

Cook: 30 min

Level: Intermediate

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Gnocchi:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for bench flour
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg

Eggplant:

• 2 tablespoons blended oil, plus more as needed
• 1/2 cup sliced garlic (about 5 to 7 cloves)
• Kosher salt
• 1 grafitti eggplant, peeled and cut into medium dice
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into medium dice
• 3 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced (3 to 4 slices)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

For the gnocchi:

To a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, Parmesan cheese, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the ricotta cheese and egg. Combine well with a wooden spoon or with your fingers until the dough just comes together, taking care not to overwork, which could cause the dough to toughen.

 

Scrape the dough onto a well-floured surface and pat into a rough square. If it's tacky to the touch, add a bit more flour so you can form it with your hands. Using a bench scraper, cut the pasta dough into 4 even pieces. Gently roll each piece into foot-long ropes, about 1-inch in diameter, flouring as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface. Cut each rope into 1/2- to 3/4-inch wide pieces. Place the gnocchi onto a floured, parchment-lined, baking sheet and into the freezer, uncovered. Keep in the freezer until ready to cook.

 

For the eggplant:

Place a saute pan over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons blended oil. Once heated, add the garlic and pinch of salt. Do not brown, just sweat for 30 seconds. Add the eggplant and season again with salt. Cook's Note: The salt will help pull out the excess moisture from the eggplant.

Add a bit more oil if necessary; the eggplant may quickly soak up what is already in the pan. Once this starts to breakdown, after about 2 minutes, add a bit more oil, if needed, the red pepper and freshly picked oregano leaves. Toss to combine, lower the heat and allow to slowly cook while starting the sauce.

 

For the sauce:

To another saute pan, add 1/2 cup unsalted butter and allow to melt over medium heat. Add the lemon slices to the butter and allow to saute while you cook the gnocchi.

 

Meanwhile, to a pot of boiling water, add enough salt and make it taste like the ocean. Carefully add the gnocchi to the boiling water and allow to cook. Once the gnocchi start to float, after about 2 to 3 minutes, remove them from the water using a slotted spoon and add them to the butter pan and allow to brown, about 2 minutes. Reserve the pasta water.

 

For plating:

Spoon about half of the eggplant mixture into the butter-gnocchi pan. Toss in 1/4 cup pasta water, drizzle extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and toss to combine. Once the butter melts, place onto plate. Drizzle the plate with extra-virgin olive oil and more Parmesan cheese.

Weight Watchers  16 points per serving (and worth every one them)

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We had never made gnocchi, and this was a good introduction. The recipe is simple to make and wonderful to eat. If you are tempted to make gnocchi, start here. The recipe did not specify the type of ricotta; so we used part skim. Combined with the lemon zest and the parmesan, there was no lack of flavor or richness. The gnocchi can easily be made ahead and frozen until you are ready to use them, which would make them a great dinner party choice. These gnocchi will make you a star!

The recipe called for peeling the eggplant. Because we are eggplant lovers, and because Sue purchased two, (see above), we decided to use both - peeling one and not the other. When we do this again, and we will, we will still use two eggplants and not peel either. This eggplant is very mild, and the skin is not bitter at all. If you cannot find graffiti eggplant, we think Japanese eggplant would be a good substitute.

The fresh oregano was lost for us in this recipe due to the lemon and butter flavors. Next time we will try dried oregano instead. And speaking of butter, we only used ½ cup and believe that we could have used only a ¼ cup. We also did not add the olive oil drizzle or additional butter at the end. It was decadent, rich and totally satisfying. Wait until you taste this. 

We are happy to finally have the opportunity to serve a Merlot after months of pairing white wines with our meals. Not that we haven’t enjoyed some very nice white wines, but we are red wine fans and think that the richness of this dish was best suited to a red wine. We also think a Cabernet or Pinot would work as well. Pick a red that you like, we did.

  

2007 Dancing Bull Merlot, California, Raley’s Supermarket from Meg's stock. It was under $10.00 on sale, but not sure of the actual price.