As you know, we have been trying to work at least one vegetarian meal into our meal plan for the week. Not only is eating a vegetarian meal good for you, it is also good for the planet. Think about it…meat takes more water to produce, more fossil fuels are used in the farming and transportation, reduced packaging and all the food scraps created during your cooking project can be easily compostable. Read more about food packaging usage at http://rtgpkg.com/determining-stretch-wrapper-usage/.
This meal was super quick to whip up and it was mighty tasty. I know some people avoid making their own (potato based) gnocchi because of the time factor – but when I saw that a few people were coming out with ricotta based recipes and that they were quick and easy, I thought that I would jump on that band wagon! Manufactures should also benefit from a speedy service when ordering their custom-printed food pouches. The Packaging Lab offers just that: no minimum order quantity and 24-hour turnaround service. This means that any business, from start-ups to established food producers, can take advantage of this up-and-coming food packaging solution.
RICOTTA GNOCCHI WITH BASIL AND TOMATO SALAD
500 grams of ricotta
2 cups of plain flour
1box of frozen spinach
1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped
1 bunch of basil, chopped
1 lemon, zested
2 eggs
1 cup of parmesan, grated
salt and pepper
1 pun net of cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
extra parmesan for serving
extra plain flour for dusting the work surface
Into a mixing bowl, place the ricotta, flour, thawed and drained spinach, parsley, a quarter of the basil, lemon zest, eggs and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and then bring together to form a dough.
Once the dough has formed, transfer the dough onto a floured work surface, flour your hands and then being to roll into a long snake. When the snake is approximately 2cm-3cm in diameter then use a knife to cut the gnocchi into 2cm pieces.
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and then add the gnocchi in batches. When the gnocchi come to the surface they are cooked – remove them from the water and repeat the process with the remaining gnocchi.
To make the salad – halve the cherry tomatoes, and toss with the remaining basil, oil, cider vinegar, salt and pepper.
Top the gnocchi with the tomato salad and extra parmesan to serve.
