Gnocchi with Browned Butter and Mushrooms and Riverbench Tributary Pinot Noir

A wine like this deserves a special meal. I love making my own gnocchi, often with my own homemade ricotta cheese, but the earthy goat cheese used here takes it to another level of sublime. Simple. Elegant. And a gorgeous surprise for your tastebuds.

• 2 small rounds of crottin de champcol cheese (use 1 cup of ricotta if you can’t find this)
• 2 eggs
• About 2 cups of flour
• ½ stick butter
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 10 ounces chopped mushrooms (use whatever you like)
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped rosemary
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a small bowl, mash the cheese and add the eggs. Stir to combine and press out any lumps. Add the flour a little bit at a time until the gnocchi comes together into a soft dough. If it’s too dry, you can always add a few drops of water.

On a floured surface, roll out dough into short logs, about ¾ inch in diameter. Cut these into small bite sized pieces, and place onto a floured surface to rest. Set aside.

Heat a large pot of salted boiling water. In the meantime, melt half of the butter in a skillet on medium-high. Add the shallots and cook 2 minutes, until soft. Add the mushrooms and brown lightly. Cook about 6 minutes. Add the rest of the butter and brown gently.
When your mushroom mixture is at this point, add the gnocchi one at a time to the boiling water. Do this quickly- the pasta will start to rise to the surface, and when it floats, it’s done. Remove it with a strainer and put it directly into the butter and mushroom mixture. The excess cooking water on the surface will thicken your sauce slightly.

Stir to mix gnocchi with mushrooms, season, and stir in the rosemary. Serve topped with cheese.

This recipe makes enough for 4 as a pasta course.