Cheat’s ricotta gnocchi with sage butter

This recipe is from Donna Hay and we guess that she calls it ‘cheats’ because normally gnocchi are made from semolina or potatoes and take a reasonable amount of time and effort to make whereas these are very quick and easy. Is that cheating just because you cut out the hard work? They turn out to be light and delicious so where’s the problem with ‘cheating’?

She suggests using a crumbly pressed ricotta but we can only buy the normal ricotta so that is what we used. We found the mixture too soft and sticky to roll so started making quenelles with two spoons but they were really too soft to handle. Our friend Bob, who was visiting, decided to just work in a little more flour and this made it possible to make the rolls and cut them into pieces. They are still very soft and delicate but once into the boiling water they cook to perfection and are very light and delicious. We ate them with sage butter as suggested in the recipe but John thinks a nice tomato sauce and some parmesan would be good too.

serves 4

• 500g ricotta
• 40g parmesan, finely grated plus extra to serve
• 2 medium free-range eggs, beaten
• 150g plain flour, sifted
• semolina or flour for dusting
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 40g butter
• 32 sage leaves

Melt the 40g of butter in a saucepan, add the sage leaves and then cook for about 1 minute until the leaves are crispy (take care not to burn the butter). Set aside.

Put the ricotta, parmesan, eggs, flour and salt in a bowl and mix well (you may need to add more flour to achieve a soft dough). Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each one on a lightly floured surface into 30cm x 2cm lengths. Cut into 3 cm pieces and set aside. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the gnocchi in small batches until they float to the surface and then cook for another 20 seconds before removing with a slotted draining spoon. Keep warm while you cook the remainder. Divide between serving plates, top with the sage leaves and butter. Give each one a dusting of grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

Melted butter banana cake

This weekend is one of the town’s fetes so of course the weather is not obliging with 17C and rain which is a great shame for all those who put such an effort into organizing these things and the folks who enjoy them. Sitting at home on a miserable Sunday afternoon your mind wanders to comfort food and what better than a slice of cake? We don’t eat cake very often, usually as a dessert if we have company, but occasionally you just get the urge – so what’s the point in resisting? We wanted something that would keep a few days so decided on banana cake which keeps nicely moist.

Dan Lepard is the baking expert who writes for the Guardian newspaper and this is his take on it. He says “These cakes are quite good at holding other ingredients suspended in the crumb, so if you’re in the mood to add roughly chopped pecans or walnuts, say, or small pieces of chopped dried apricot or peach, a speckling of poppyseeds or even dark chocolate chips, you’ll be fine.”

Banana and chocolate, that sounded like our kind of cake so we added 30g of 70% cocoa solids chocolate coarsely grated. We didn’t have an orange in the house so went the grown-up route and used an orange liqueur instead.

It may sound odd to beat melted butter with the sugar and a little flour before adding the eggs, but it helps create a very moist texture. The zest and juice can be from any citrus fruit. Of course, you can ice the finished cake, if you prefer, perhaps with a simple, glossy water icing made with a little freshly squeezed juice. Or, as we did, why not glaze it with some chunky-cut marmalade?

In the end we didn’t eat it today as cake but as a dessert after dinner with some mascarpone cream flavoured with more orange liqueur. Cake or dessert it is delicious.

200g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
250g plain flour
4 medium eggs
Finely grated zest of an orange and 15ml juice
200g well-mashed banana
3 tsp baking powder

Line the base and sides of a large loaf tin with nonstick paper. Melt the butter, pour it into a mixing bowl with the sugar, then beat in 100g of the flour until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, beating each one in well before adding the next, then mix in the citrus zest, juice and banana. Sift in the remaining flour and baking powder, and stir until smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake at 160C (140C fan-assisted)/320F/gas mark 2½ for a little over an hour. When a skewer pulls out with only a few crumbs sticking to it, it’s done.