Beet Gnocchi
3 beets
1 brick extra firm tofu
1 egg's worth of egg substitute
3/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup vegan butter
salt
pepper
rosemary
parsley
garlic
olive oil
oregano
basil
lemon juice
Heat oven to 450 degrees F and roast beets for 1 hour.
While beets are baking, prepare vegan ricotta cheese. Do this by simmering the tofu brick in water for five minutes and then draining it and cooling it. Add a little olive oil and the parsley/garlic/olive oil/oregano/basil/lemon juice combo. Season it to your taste and them mash it up until it gets to a ricotta-like consistency.
When the beets are done, peel off the skin and grate.
Add the grated beet to the "ricotta". Then add the egg sub, salt and pepper to taste, flour, and "cheese".
Lightly flour a baking sheet and form gnocchis by rolling into 3/4 inch logs and cutting and shaping with forks.
Melt "butter" in pan and add rosemary. Simmer very lightly for five minutes.
Boil a big pot of water and toss in the gnocchis. Boil 3 1/2 minutes. They should be floating. Remove with a slotted spoon and coat with the rosemary butter.
Serve hot with additional parmesan "cheese" as a topping.
P.S. Yes, the pasta is supposed to be hot pink like that!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
It should be noted that this recipe is modified from a 2004 issue of Bon Appetit, and is attributed in this blog post: http://chairmanstef.blogspot.com/2007/07/gnocchi-cant-be-beet.html .
Cooking notes: I made this again the other day. I used the ricotta recipe from veganomicon, which I believe calls for firm silken tofu. That works a lot better to make a fluffy gnocchi. Also, the egg replacer is unnecessary; it doesn't do to pasta what real egg does.
This sounds so unusual and delicious! I am going to try this soon. :-*
This was really good! I just dressed the gnocchi with plain olive oil, and that was plenty flavorful. I had to add more flour; I think 2 cups total is about right.