20-Minute Ricotta Gnocchi
The easiest homemade gnocchi recipe — made with just 4 main ingredients in 20 minutes (no potatoes required!), and just as light and delicious as ever!
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min · Total 25 min · Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
- Salt
- Water
- Egg
- Pepper
- Flour
- Egg yolks
- Egg yolk
- Boiling water
Directions
- Bring a large stockpot of generously-salted water to a boil over high heat.
- While your water is heating, place 3-4 paper towels on a large plate and spread the ricotta on the paper towels in an even layer.
- Place another layer of 3-4 paper towels on top of the ricotta.
- Then press down gently to let the excess moisture soak into the paper towels, trying to soak up as much of the excess liquid as possible.
- Transfer the ricotta to a large mixing bowl. (If it sticks to the paper towels, just use a rubber spatula to scrape it off.)
- The drained ricotta should now weigh about 12 ounces.
- Add the egg yolks to the ricotta and stir briefly to combine.
- Add in the flour, Parmesan, salt and pepper, and stir until evenly combined.
- Avoid over-mixing.
- The dough will be a bit moist and maybe a bit sticky, but it should be holding together well.
- If it feels too wet, just add in another few tablespoons of flour.
- Shape the dough into a round disk with your hands, then transfer it to a lightly-floured cutting board and sprinkle the dough with lightly with flour.
- Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into eight even pie wedges.
- Using your hands, gently roll out each wedge out into an even log, approximately 3/4-inch wide.
- Cut each log into individual bite-sized little gnocchi squares.
- Lightly dust the gnocchi with flour once more and give them a quick toss so that they are all lightly coated with flour. (This will help prevent them from sticking together.)
- Carefully transfer the gnocchi to the boiling water to cook.
- Then once they float — usually after 30 seconds or so — drain the gnocchi.
- Serve immediately, tossed with your favorite sauce and whatever other ingredients sound good!