If we could make ricotta gnocchi without the addition of flour, why then did we feel the need to still use egg yolk in our recipe? A safety net of course. The additional protein from the egg yolk helped enrich the ricotta which in turn was stabilized our gnocchi base which we were forming with the addition of Activa. I was impatient and wanted to see if my idea was sound. The gnocchi were delicious, though if we were going to strip the gnocchi down to their essence, why stop five yards short of the finish line?
Thankfully, my recent shipment of Activa arrived, in it a
new blend--at least to me. Activa Y-G Activa was formulated for dairy applications to prevent syneresis from occuring as well as adding a richer and more decadent mouthfeel to low fat dairy products. In our case the dairy specific Activa allows us to make ricotta gnocchi without the addition of flour or 
eggs. We now have gnocchi that are 99 percent ricotta.
Now these gnocchi are not bullet proof. They are delicate though they can take the abuse of traditional cooking as long as a bit of finesse is used. We have tried two preparations with these gnocchi so far: simply sauteed and baked in a gratin with white asparagus, scallions and
parmesan. In both cases the gnocchi stood up to the cooking method while retaining there original shape and structure. Upon eating the gnocchi these delicate pillows of cheese burst across your palate.
Furthermore, if we can make ricotta gnocchi this way what is stopping us from trying this with goat cheese or mozzarella or even yogurt? And if this applications are possible, what about looking at custards and cheesecakes? What can we do with them?
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