Garlic Scape Gnocchi with Mushrooms

Garlic scapes. Google them and you'll find 800 million garlic scape pesto recipes. These curly green snake-like veggies are abundant at my CSA at this time of year. I have to admit, I'm tired of scape pesto so I shook things up a little bit. It was freakin' delicious to shake things up. After roasting the scapes I blended them into a gnocchi base. The result? A mellow garlick-y green delicious fluffy ricotta pillow. These will happen again!

Garlic Scape Gnocchi with Mushrooms
Serves 4

Big Bunch of garlic scapes- enough to cover a cookie tray (I used about 1/2 lb)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
8 oz ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 lemons
8 oz mushrooms
2 TBS butter

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and lay scapes on it. Roast for 8 minutes and shut oven off. Leave the scapes in for a few more minutes. (If you roast for longer than 8 minutes the tips tend to burn- shutting off the oven avoids any burning.)

2. Shove the scapes into a food processor. Don't worry if you really jam them in they'll fit :) 

Process the scapes with the blade attachment until they are finely chopped. 

Add the egg, ricotta, salt, flour, and the juice of one lemon into the processor. Make sure you measure out the ricotta.

The result should be a thick paste-like dough. 

3. Flour a counter and take out a sharp knife. Set up a floured cookie sheet to put finished gnocchi on. Take the gnocchi one large spoonful at a time and roll in flour. Roll out into a snake-like shape and chop into little gnocchis. This part is really challenging to take pictures of so if you want to see step by step photos feel free to see a past post I did on Ricotta Gnocchi. 

Ready to go into the boiling water. 

4. Boil a large pot of water on the stove. You can also choose to freeze the gnocchi at this point to cook at a later date. This is a great way to have quick meals ready. To freeze- freeze in a single layer then transfer to a tupperware container once frozen. 

While you are waiting for the water to boil, melt the butter in a saucepan. Chop the mushrooms up and saute in butter. When the mushrooms are brown, add the juice from the 1/2 lemon. Lemon really helps to counteract the intensity of the scapes. 

 

Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water. Boil for 3-5 minutes. They will float to the top when they are ready. Use a slotted spoon to remove them. Don't drain into a strainer. The gnocchi will stick together and get gummy. 

Top with mushrooms and enjoy!