These delicate and slightly sweet golden beet gnocchi are served in a very light Parmesan sauce. The cottage cheese give these yellow pillows a little protein boost.
Prepare the beets. You can do this by roasting them in the oven ‘naked’ or wrapped in aluminum foil. I decided to cook them in water on the stove as I want to re-use the water for the cooking of the gnocchi.Cook the beets until they are soft when pierced with a fork. Cool them and peel the skin off. You can do this ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you start making the gnocchi.
Transfer the cooled beets with the cottage cheese and the egg into a blender and blend until smooth. The tiny cottage cheese balls with blend into the smooth mixture.
Combine flour and salt in a bowl and add the beet mixture to this and mix with a spatula and/or your hands.
Transfer the ‘dough’ onto a floured kitchen counter and knead for a few minutes. The dough will be sticky, so you may need to add a little bit more flour. Try to add a little as possible. Form a ball, wrap it in saran wrap and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Transfer the gnocchi ‘dough’ back onto your floured surface, cut the ball in 4 parts and roll them out into a log or tube. You can do this anyway you like. This recipe I cut long gnocchi, rather than the short rounder ones. Make sure they don’t stick together (you may want to toss them with a little bit of flour). Transfer the gnocchi onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place that in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
Heat up the water in which you cooked the beets. This is nice and golden and will help color the beet gnocchi more intensely.
When the beet water boils, use a slotted spoon and add the gnocchi in batches. Cook until the gnocchi float to the surface and transfer the gnocchi to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Discard all the gnocchi cooking water, except of 1/2 cup. Poor that back into the pan, add about 1/4-1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and stir until dissolved. Add salt, pepper to taste. Add the gnocchi, stir and allow the sauce to coat. Sprinkle with parsley and serve in bowls or on plates. Grate some extra Parmigiano Reggiano cheese over the gnocchi and enjoy!
Notes
Use red beets if you prefer, it makes no difference as far as the recipe is concerned.
Replace cottage cheese with ricotta cheese.
Instead of Parmigiano Reggiano you can use Pecorino Romano cheese.