Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells
Pasta shells filled with spinach and ricotta beneath a tomato sauce.
About 55 min · 540 kcal · 30 g protein per serving
Vegetarian
Potato and ricotta gnocchi with tomato and basil
Light potato and ricotta dumplings in a simple tomato sauce.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 22 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm 70 g of flour is enough for 350 g of potato and 150 g of ricotta
- Confirm the gnocchi hold together when boiled
- Photograph the finished bowl
- Time
- About 1 hr 5 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 575 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 24 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains eggs, gluten, milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- passata. Some passata is salted; check the label.
- Parmesan. Parmigiano Reggiano is made with animal rennet, so it is not vegetarian. Vegetarian Italian-style hard cheeses are widely sold.
Cooking steps
Boil the potatoes whole in their skins for 20 to 25 minutes, until soft. Drain, peel while hot and mash them as dry as you can, then spread the mash out to cool and steam off.
Simmer the passata with the oil for 10 to 12 minutes while the potato cools.
Mix the cooled mash with the ricotta and the egg, then add the flour a little at a time, stopping the moment the dough just holds together. It should still feel slightly tacky.
Roll the dough into ropes about 2 cm thick on a floured surface and cut them into 2 cm pieces.
Cooked when: 71°C / 160°F in the centre. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Boil them in batches in well salted water. They are ready about 30 seconds after they float, which takes 2 to 3 minutes.
Lift them straight into the sauce with a slotted spoon, turn them through, and finish with the basil and the grated Parmesan.
The useful detail
Stop adding flour the moment the dough holds together, even if it still feels tacky. Every extra spoonful past that point is a heavier gnocchi, and there is no way back.
Make it work for you
One serving is Half the gnocchi with half the sauce. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Cottage cheese instead of ricotta
Blend it smooth and drain it first, or the dough takes more flour.
Per serving: about 40 kcal less, about 3 g more protein, about 4 g less fat.
Vegetarian hard cheese instead of Parmesan
Identical. Parmesan is made with animal rennet.
Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Tinned tomatoes instead of passata
Chunkier; simmer it 5 minutes longer and crush it with a spoon.
Per serving: about 45 kcal less, about 2 g less protein, about the same fat.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A pasta-style dinner where the ricotta and the egg carry protein that flour and potato alone would not, which is the point of making them this way.
| Energy | 575 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 24 g |
| Fat | 19 g |
| of which saturates | 8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 81 g |
| of which sugars | 12 g |
| Fibre | 9 g |
| Sodium | 330 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| potatoes | 350 g | FDC 170026Potatoes, flesh and skin, raw | 270 kcal | 7.2 g |
| ricotta | 150 g | FDC 170851Cheese, ricotta, whole milk | 225 kcal | 11.3 g |
| eggs | 50 g | FDC 171287Egg, whole, raw, fresh | 72 kcal | 6.3 g |
| plain flour | 70 g | FDC 169761Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, unenriched | 255 kcal | 7.2 g |
| passata | 400 g | FDC 170460Tomato products, canned, puree, without salt addedCalculated with FoodData Central's unsalted tinned tomato purée record, the closest match to sieved passata. | 152 kcal | 6.6 g |
| olive oil | 9 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 80 kcal | 0.0 g |
| fresh basil | 10 g | FDC 172232Basil, fresh | 2 kcal | 0.3 g |
| Parmesan | 25 g | FDC 170848Cheese, parmesan, hard | 98 kcal | 8.9 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 1154 kcal | 47.8 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. Uncooked gnocchi freeze well on a tray, then bagged. Cook them from frozen.
- In the freezer
- Freezing keeps food safe indefinitely; the texture is best if it is eaten sooner rather than later.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Mushroom and lentil cottage pie
A savoury mushroom-lentil filling with a soft potato topping.
About 1 hr · 360 kcal · 20 g protein per serving
Vegetarian