Mascarpone and Lemon Gnocchi

If you like Italian food and have not eaten gnocchi, well then you are missing out! First things first. It’s time to learn how to pronounce this delectable dish. For you Non-Italians, try saying “Know Key”…with the emphasis on the first syllable. Click here for your mini tutorial! Come to think of it you might not know how to pronounce this delicious cheese? Click here for your tutorial on Mascarpone. The dish gnocchi goes back thousands of years when it wasn’t more than a dumpling made from flour and water. The traditional Italian style gnocchi is made with cooked potatoes. While I’ve made potato gnocchi before, I actually prefer making cheese gnocchi. It swaps out the potatoes for some lovely cheese. In this version I used mascarpone (a soft Italian acid-set cream cheese) found in most major grocery stores.

Besides a bit of flower, these are the main ingredients for the dish.

Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer makes the process go fast. Of course you can stir by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon if you feel the need for an arm workout.

My preferred method is to divide my finished dough into 1/4ths. Then carefully roll each portion out into a long strand. Cut it into equal lengths (about 1/2 – 3/4 inch). Then I use my sweet little wooden gnocchi board and roll each dumpling down it. Using a gnocchi board is the traditional way that puts little grooves in the dough. These grooves help it hold on to whatever delicious sauce you serve with your dumplings. So your husband didn’t surprise you with a little wooden gnocchi board? Just use the back of a dinner fork to create the little grooves.

My dough working station for these delicate, light cheese dumplings..

I used a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis as my base…but I did make some modifications: I used the grated rind from ONE lemon and the juice from half a lemon in my dough and found it to be plenty lemony. If you can, be sure to use real, whole nutmeg by running it over a microplane grater. It does add a very important flavor that most gnocchi recipes call for. All forms of gnocchi are an absolute hit with guests and are loved by Italian children. Gnocchi goes well as a base for all kinds of sauces…but tonight I wanted to keep it light and lemony. This was a WINNER.

Click here for the link to Giada’s original recipe. Bon Appetito!