Ricotta Gnocchi with Asparagus, Ramps, and Morels

The inaugural Daring Cooks challenge, Ricotta Gnocchi, comes from the stunning cookbook by Judy Rodgers, named after her restaurant, The Zuni Café Cookbook. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this restaurant, which is now on the top of my list of things to do when I eventually (hopefully) get back to San Francisco one day.

We were given free rein on the flavor components of this recipe. My goal for this dish was buy local, buy fresh—take advantage of Michigan’s finest offerings of spring. This included ordering a pound of fresh ricotta from my favorite wine and cheese store Morgan & York and a stop at The Produce Station to buy asparagus and ramps just harvested that morning. Also, it’s morel hunting season. My co-worker offered me a sack full of these tasty shrooms that he'd recently foraged and dehydrated in exchange for a taste of the gnocchi. I was more than happy to oblige!

 Gnocchi made with ricotta is surprisingly straightforward to make and has an incredibly silky smooth texture. In my opinion it was a lot less prep work than would be if using potatoes as the foundation for the dough. These delicate pillows, which I flavored with sage and parmesean, were a bit fragile, though. Herein is where the challenge lied: handling and shaping the dough. Once formed, I simmered the gnocchi in the broth created from reconstituting the morels. This imparted an additional savory dimension to the finished dish. This morel broth (now melded with flavors from ricotta and sage) is liquid gold! I couldn’t bear to dump it down the sink when cleaning up the dishes. Instead, I strained and froze it. Someday soon it will reemerge in a hearty soup or risotto…