RICOTTA GNOCCHI WITH PARSLEY PESTO

INGREDIENTS Time: 40 minutes, plus chilling Ser vings: 6- 8 500g fresh ricotta, drained well Salt and pepper 3 or 4 tbsp grated Parmesan, plus more for serving 2 eggs, beaten All- purpose flour, as needed Fine semolina flour or rice flour, for dusting 3 cups flat- leaf parsley leaves and tender stems 1 small garlic clove, minced 120ml extra- virgin olive oil 3 tbsp unsalted butter 4 tbsp toasted pistachios, roughly chopped for garnish

METHOD

1. Put ricotta in a large mixing bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Whisk in Parmesan and taste. The mixture should be well seasoned. Add eggs and mix well, then sprinkle in 4 tbsp flour and stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate. You should have a soft, rather sticky dough. Dump dough onto a clean work surface. Add a little more flour if necessary and pat very lightly to form a soft mass.

2. Test the dough: Bring a saucepan of well-salted water to a boil. Take 1 tbsp of dough and drop into water. Dough should sink to the bottom, then rise to the surface. Let simmer 1 minute, then remove and taste. If the dumpling keeps its shape, continue to step 3. If it falls apart, add a little more flour to the dough, but carefully: If you add too much, the gnocchi will be stodgy.

3. Dust dough lightly with semolina, then cut it into four equal parts. Dust work surface with semolina. With your hands flat, gently roll each piece into a rope about 2cm in diameter and 30cm long. Keep sprinkling semolina on dough to keep it from sticking to the counter or your hands.

4. Using scissors or a sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut each log into 12 pieces. Dust bottom of a baking sheet with semolina. Transfer gnocchi with a spatula to baking sheet, leaving space between them so they are not touching. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 1 hour.

5. To make the parsley pesto, put parsley, garlic, olive oil and butter in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly, then blend to a rough purée. Taste and season with salt and pepper. You should have about 1 cup pesto, more than you need for this recipe. Leftover pesto can be refrigerated for up to three days, or frozen for up to a month.

6. Place a large pot of well-salted water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add gnocchi, working in batches, if necessary. When they bob to the surface, let them cook for about 2 minutes and lift them from the pot with a slotted spoon or spider, transferring gnocchi to a large, wide skillet. Add 4 to 6 tbsp pesto and 120ml pasta cooking water to skillet and swirl pan to coat gnocchi.

7. Serve gnocchi in warmed individual shallow soup bowls or a deep, wide platter. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios and dust with Parmesan. Pass more grated Parmesan separately.