One of our favorite events every summer is The Sylvia Center’s Farm-to-Table dinner, hosted by Great Performances in the fields of Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, N.Y. The mission of The Sylvia Center is to inspire young people and their families to eat well through hands-on learning experiences on the farm and in the kitchen. Julie Cerny, farm education director and garden manager at The Sylvia Center, offers us recipes the teenagers are learning to make.
How many recipes can you eat for five days straight? Last week, when our students came to visit the farm, we made this ricotta gnocchi four times over four days. I liked it so much that I made it again for myself over the weekend. That’s love. The secret ingredient in this recipe is the lemon zest, which catches you off guard in the best way possible, brightening the whole dish. Use your favorite vegetables or whatever you have on hand. This time around we used scallions, peas, some frozen tomato sauce from last year, and the ever-prolific asparagus. When summer rolls around, we’ll look forward to switching it up with some summer squash, peppers, onions, and cherry tomatoes. A recipe for all seasons. Enjoy. Ricotta GnocchiServes 4-6 2 cups ricotta cheese ½ cup Parmesan cheese 1½ tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper 2 eggs 1¼ cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 4 scallions, thinly sliced 1 cup frozen peas 1 cup asparagus chopped into ½" pieces ½ cup vegetable stock 1 teaspoon lemon zest ½ cup tomato sauce Salt Pepper Freshly grated Parmesan 1. Combine ricotta, Parmesan, olive oil, salt, pepper and eggs in large mixing bowl. Slowly fold in the flour. Mix until it forms a smooth but slightly sticky dough. Dust the top lightly with some of flour. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. 2. Cut the dough into 6 pieces. Form 1 piece of dough into a ½-inch-thick rope on a lightly floured surface. Cut rope into ½-inch pieces. Gently roll each piece into a ball and lightly dust with flour. Repeat with remaining 5 pieces of dough. 3. Turn a fork over and hold at a 45-degree angle, with tips of tines touching work surface. Working with one at a time, roll gnocchi down fork tines, pressing with your thumb, to make ridges on one side. Transfer gnocchi pieces to floured baking sheets. 4. Add half of gnocchi to boiling water and stir. Cook until they float to surface, about 3 minutes. Add the other half of the gnocchi and cook until they float to the surface. Transfer with a slotted spoon to bowl. 5. Heat oil and butter over medium heat in sautée pan. Add asparagus, scallions, peas, tomato sauce and vegetable stock, sauté for 4-5 minutes or until peas are tender. Add lemon zest and gnocchi.
