Back in January, I tried making ricotta gnocchi for the first time. It was a huge success, very simple, easy and tasty. I decieded to try a version using chickpea flour to increase the protein and fiber content, and this gluten free chickpea ricotta gnocchi was a success.
I have to admit that the chickpea flour did not produce a gnocchi that was as light and fluffy as its wheat counterpart, but I still found the flavor to be delicious!
If you try one by itself, it does kind-of taste like a chickpea. However, when I paired the chickpea gnocchi with some simple basil pesto, I could not even taste the chickpea flavor. So don’t worry, these gnocchi won’t taste like you’re eating a bowl of chickpeas if you pair them with a flavorful sauce!
This time, I also tried rolling the gnocchi into a traditional shape using a fork (pictures above). It creates an inner pocket that helps sauce to cling to the gnocchi.
Personally, I found it to be more work than necessary. If you are a gnocchi purest, go for it. If not, then you can leave the pillows as squares and it will taste just as good!
Tips and Tricks for the Gluten Free Chickpea Ricotta Gnocchi recipe:
- Use up the chickpea flour: I add chickpea flour to vegetable fritters. It increases the protein content and helps bind the veggies together. Here is a zucchini fritter recipe to try.
- In a hurry: skip the rolling step in the recipe as it takes a lot of time, and can be frustrating. Simple boil the pieces after you cut them off the rope.
- Freeze extra gnocchi before boiling on a parchment lined sheet. Boil from frozen until they float when ready to eat!
- 1 cup chickpea flour (aka garbanzo bean flour)
- 1 cup ricotta
- 1 large egg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 TBS grated parmesan cheese
- Extra flour for rolling
- A simple sauce, like basil pesto
- Combine chickpea flour, ricotta, egg, salt, and Parmesan in a large bowl until smooth.
- Transfer to a flour dusted work surface and roll the dough into ½ inch thick logs, working in batches. Cut the logs into 1 inch pieces.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Optional: roll the gnocchi by pressing each flour dusted piece gently onto the tines of a fork. Gently lift the bottom end of the dough off the fork and roll upwards to create the pocket in the center. Alternatively, you can skip this step and cook the 1 inch pieces.
- Drop the gnocchi pieces into bowling water and cook until they float, 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with a simple sauce, such as basil pesto.
