Hank Shaw is back, tempting us with pumpkin ricotta gnocchi. It's crazy good, and actually not as hard as you would think to make. Enjoy! ~Elise
Pumpkin ravioli with brown butter and sage is a classic for a reason: The color, the texture and the flavors of winter squash, fried sage and browned butter are a match made in heaven. But making ravioli requires a fair bit of skill. Gnocchi, however, are easy to make once you get the hang of it.
The key to making any dumplings is to make them as light as possible. We've all had leaden lumps of unhappiness before; they're memorable, and not in a good way. What keeps these gnocchi fluffy are the ricotta cheese and a light hand with the flour. Gnocchi dough is often sticky, and it's the ability to resist the urge to keep adding more and more flour that separates a good dumpling from a heavy one.
Continue reading "Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi" »
by Sasha Gong and Scott Seligman. One doesn't usually think of this rather painful period of Chinese history, when millions of Chinese urban youth, children of "intellectuals," were forced into the countryside to work as farmers, for its culinary legacy. But during this period, people learned to make do, and to create nourishing, satisfying food from simple, local ingredients. 
Now most of the food we make around here gets shared among many—parents, boyfriend, friends, brothers, neighbors. But this one? I did not share. Mine. All. Mine. It's that good.
