Can I let you in on a not-so-big secret? Everyone loves Gnocchi. Even low-carb me loves Gnocchi. Can I let you in on another secret? If you say that you’ve made the Gnocchi yourself, everyone thinks that you’re a cooking genius. So if you need to do a little bit of showing off but for very little effort (my favourite kind of showing off), this is the recipe for you.
The gnocchi actually has 2 steps, one of which can be done ahead of time (important as far as dinner parties are concerned) and the second part which just requires a bit of time in the oven so it’s fairly low maintenance. I’ve specified amounts for an entree size but double the recipe and you’ve got yourself a brilliant main. Match with some wine and even the fussiest dinner guest will be calmed and gushing your praises.
I may be a pervert as I love running my finger along the ridges on the ricotta (clean of course!)
As for the sauce, it’s another one of those brilliant sauces that will have everyone asking you the recipe. All it is is butter, browned in a small saucepan so that the beautiful nutty aroma is released. Nothing more and nothing less and certainly not requiring any special ingredients, trickery or effort. If you think that browned butter is too much trouble, I’d have to say that a dinner party is probably something that you may be forced to do under threat of gunpoint or blackmail. I dare say that ordering a pizza is harder. And much less impressive.
Ricotta and chive homemade gnocchi with browned butter sauce
An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella
Serves 4 as an entree (4 gnocchi each) Makes 16-18
- 250g ricotta
- 1/4 finely grated Parmegiano Reggiano plus 1/4 cup extra for sprinkling
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons Fresh chives plus extra for decorating
- salt and pepper
- 35g butter plus 15grams extra for dotting
1. Brush a baking dish with butter and bring a pot of water to the boil. Preheat oven to 190C.
2. Mix the ricotta, reggiano, flour and egg in a bowl and snip some chives so that it is speckled green. Season with salt and pepper. Shape into a gnocchi shape between two teaspoons.
3. Turn down the water until it is a gentle rolling boil. Drop 6 at a time in the water and wait til they float to the top (a minute or two). Using a slotted spoon drain all of the water and place on buttered baking dish. Top with extra reggiano and dot with the 15g of butter.
4. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until it becomes crispy at the top
5. Meanwhile, brown butter until it becomes nuttily fragrant. The easiest way is to heat a small saucepan until medium hot and add butter, it will foam up and become very quickly browned. Serve browned butter lightly drizzled over the gnocchi and snip extra chives and salt flakes to dress.
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54 Comments | Add your own
You write so well. I’ve never consider making gnocchi before, but now I think I’d better!
omigod, that is just like a perfect cheats gnocchi…no potato!
Lovely! Home made gnocchi never fails to impress
Yum – That looks pretty easy and very tasty. I’ll certainly be trying out this recipe.
Oh my, that looks delicious! My daughter loves gnocci and its her go to when I make something she doesn’t like.
Love the brown butter part! Thanks for sharing!
I was wondering why did the buttered baking dish look brown on top (after brushed with butter)?
What do you mean dot with butter? Just brush slighty the gnocchi?
Very decadent, they look lovely!
I love all of the recipes, but they take so long to print off due to the photos etc, any chance of having a print copy button which only prints the actual recipe. Thanks
that does sound irresistibly easy! i’m thinking maybe even i could pull it off…
Not everyone likes gnocchi, in fact I hate it but this one actually looks and sound nice. I will give it a try. I also agree with Hazels comment about the print button.
I’ve never had gnocchi, but I trust that!
Oooh that looks good. I’ve never seen a gnocchi recipe that doesn’t call for potatoes before. I love potatoes but can never bring myself to eat TOO many of them for fear that I would rapidly turn very round… (then I wouldn’t be able to have my desserts, lol).
That said, this looks like a terrific recipe, and it has been bookmarked!
Thanks. x
looks delicious! and so simple too…I’m throwing a dinner party tonight wish I had seen this recipe earlier
This looks fabulous and I’ll be giving it a try – I have guests staying tomorrow night and my plan was to order in, but this looks much better, thanks!
Oooohhhhhh that is deliciously brilliantt!!
I love your intro, it is soooo Nigella
I shal definitely give this a gooo yummm ^^!
oh my! these look so so good
U wouldn’t be the only pervert then Lorraine…I like doing tht too…the ridges and my fingers…lol
thanks for stopping by sweety
I had to read the recipe a few times to try and find the potato(one of my favourite games). I think I have just found the starter for the next meal for my vegetarian friends.
Hazel – you can get a text copy of pretty much any page without pictures by doing the following;
1. Go to the web page
2. Select All (CTRL-A)
3. Copy (CTRL-C)
4. Open Notepad
5. Paste (CTRL-V) into Notepad
6. Delete the extraneous text which will be easy
7. Save/Print
It works on the basis that Notepad only accepts text, us IT dudes use this technique quite often to remove any formatting from text.
TEXT VERSION
Ricotta and chive homemade gnocchi with browned butter sauce
Serves 4 as an entree (4 gnocchi each) Makes 16-18
* 250g ricotta
* 1/4 finely grated Parmegiano Reggiano plus 1/4 cup extra for sprinkling
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1 egg
* 2 tablespoons Fresh chives plus extra for decorating
* salt and pepper
* 35g butter plus 15grams extra for dotting
1. Brush a baking dish with butter and bring a pot of water to the boil. Preheat oven to 190C.
2. Mix the ricotta, reggiano, flour and egg in a bowl and snip some chives so that it is speckled green. Season with salt and pepper. Shape into a gnocchi shape between two teaspoons.
3. Drop 6 at a time in the boiling water and wait til they float to the top (a minute or two). Using a slotted spoon drain all of the water and place on buttered baking dish. Top with extra reggiano and dot with the 15g of butter.
4. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until it becomes crispy at the top
5. Meanwhile, brown butter until it becomes nuttily fragrant. The easiest way is to heat a small saucepan until medium hot and add butter, it will foam up and become very quickly browned. Serve browned butter lightly drizzled over the gnocchi and snip extra chives and salt flakes to dress.
Hazel, all you need to do is copy it all and paste into the Windows application called Notepad, all photos will not copy across and you will be just left with the plain text to print.
oops sorry don’t worry about my last comment, I just read uncle hunty’s entry. He got in before me!
Hi Barbara-Thankyou so much! This is definitely worth trying. I’ve made potato gnocchi before and that was fiddly but this one isn’t
Hi Reemski-Yup and therefore much easier!
Hi Y-Yup especially when it’s easy on the cook too
Hi Anita-Wonderful! Please let me know what you think of it
Hi Biz-Ahh brilliant! I hope she likes it
I love an easy but tasty sauce and browned butter is just made for pasta 
Hi Lilia-I’m trying to figure out your first question but can’t really. Can you elaborate? With your second question, just dot little cubes on butter on top of each gnocchi.
Hi Arwen-Thankyou so much!
Hi hazel-There’s a print button at the bottom of the story but you can also follow the instructions given by Uncle Hunty and Moya below.
Hi lindsey clare-I’m sure you could definitely make this!
Hi Leslee-If you hate something it might not be the best idea to make it. If you do I hope you like it.
Hi Blond Duck-This is a good intro to it and easy!
Hi Su-yin-Hehe yes no potatoes at all here and less carbs too as it’s mainly cheese! You’re welcome, let me know what you think of it if you make it
Hi Alexandra-Ah well, there’s always the next dinner party!
Hi Paula-I think they’ll be much more impressed by these as home made gnocchi is a rather impressive effort (no need to tell them it was easy
)
Hi FFichiban-Hehe cool! It’s really fabbo I have to say although maybe 4 per person is a bit small for a guy that can eat so much ice cream
Hi snookydoodle-Thankyou so much!
Hi Navita-Ahh that’s very good to know! I just can’t resist
Hi uncle Hunty-LOL at find the potato game. Yes and I don’t think the meat eaters would miss the meat here too! Thanks for copying and pasting the recipe
Hi moya-Thanks so much for your help too!
Isn’t brown butter sauce just divine…*drool*
that’s some of the most tender gnocchi i’ve ever seen. bravo, i say. bravo.
Oh my…I am hungryly studying with my friends for final exams, and, of course, we are HUNGRY college students. And these gnocchi look absolutely amazing! I wish I could eat them right off your blog…what a great study break that would be.
The base of the baking dish, it is a bit brown. I guess it was just brushed with butter, not browned butter, right? Or are you using porcelain baking dish with brown or cream colour?
Absolutely fabulous my dear! I’ll join you stroking the ricotta! It’s my favourite fresh soft cheese.
I’ve made a similar ricotta gnocchi called Dunderi (David Rocco recipe). I’ll be giving this one a go too.
That looks sooooo good!
yes yes! i love gnocchi too..these are gorgeous and that sauce is so tantalizing
Hi Miss Honey-It sure is! I can’t get enough of the stuff
Hi grace-Thankyou ever so much! *curtseys*
Hi Patti-Hehe that’s the ultimate compliment, when someone wants to eat it off the screen! Thankyou so much!
Hi Lilia-The baking dish is a creamy bone shade. The browned butter didn’t go into the baking dish, it got served on top in the white plate pics.
Hi Christie-Good to know!
I’m crazy for those soft cheeses!
Hi Vanessa-Oh great! I haven’t seen that recipe but is it very similar? If you do, I’d love to know how they compare!
Hi gaga-Thankyou so much!
Hi diva-Thanks, I don’t think anyone would knock back gnocchi, unless they were really, really, really trying
Here’s the link for the Dunderi:
http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=6681
I either do with a tomato and pesto sauce (like the one Valentino made on Martha Stewart) or just a plain tomato based sauce. MIght even be nice with burnt butter and sage–must try that
Hi Vanessa-Oh cool, the ingredients are quite similar but the method is a bit different. I’d love to know how they taste in comparison to each other. Oh yes burnt butter and sage-magic!
aren’t these like gnudi? i may be wrong, but that’s what they look like. whatever you call them, gnocchi or gnudi, they look fabulous. i never can get my browned butter quite that color!
That looks so good!
Hi We Are Never Full-I’m not sure what gnudi is but if it’s like gnocchi then yes
Sometimes my browned butter is slightly darker, sometimes slightly lighter!
Hi Kevin-Thankyou so much!
I finally cooked these on the weekend and they are lovely. Not a gnocchi fan but these were great. my family also loved them and ate them like little finger food treats. Will certainly cook them again. Thank you
Hi Leslee-That’s great to know. I was a bit worried about you making them if you don’t like gnocchi!
But that’s great to hear and you’re more than welcome!
Absolutely gorgeous gnocchi I adore that photograph of the ricotta–it looks like a quilted handbag.
Hi Angela-Yes you’re right! I knew there was one reason why I was crazy about the bag
I made this recipe over the weekend, and it was delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Carrie-Wonderful! So glad that you liked it and thanks for stopping by to let me know
Absolutely gorgeous!!
I made this last night cos I had leftover ricotta, parmesan and chives. This was WONDERFUL! So easy and fluffy and light and yum! I was too impatient to wait for the entire baking time, so mine weren’t crispy, but next time I’ll cook when I’m not hungry and it’ll be done right! Thanks for the beautiful recipe
I can’t believe I had a wonderful weeknight dinner in under 30 min!
This was so tasty.. thanks heaps!
To be honest, I hate gnocchi, but I still want to try my hand at cooking it (even though I hate eating it); maybe I’d like the gnocchi better if I do it myself. Thanks for the recipe!
Your gnocchi looks and sounds so good! I came over from Pinterest. My website pin4ever.com lets pinners save a backup copy of all their pins, boards, and likes — and it’s free to try right now! I hope you’ll visit the website, and protect your pins!
I made these but they just fell apart when I put them in the boiling water. I wonder what I did wrong. I ended up baking th rest just straight from the bowl.
Just made these. ,,,have to say delicioso!..but make sure when placing in the boiling water it is only ‘just a gentle rolling boil’ as the gnocchi are quite fragile…otherwise superb. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Susie! Thanks so much for the suggestion re wording, I’ve amended it
I have several recipes that call for premade store-bought gnocchi as an ingredient but can’t find them anywhere. So thanks for the recipe to make my own.
HI Leslie! You’re very welcome!
These are a softer kind of gnocchi, usually it’s made out of potato but this is made out of ricotta (and psst but I prefer these 
)
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