Freezer Frenzy #3

I'll get half credit for this - half is freezer worthy, half is just a time-saving kitchen idea.  I stumbled upon another great freezer-friendly recipe...again, from Everyday Food.  They got 2 thumbs up from Troy, so that makes it blog-worthy.  It only about 20 minutes to make.  They are very rich, so one batch made 2 dishes for our family - one to eat and one to freeze.

Ricotta Dumplings
1 1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta
1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese (plus more for serving).  I could not find pecorino at the store, so I used asiago.
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tsps grated lemon zest
coarse salt
1 cup plus 2 tbs all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
3 tbs unsalted butter

1.  In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, cheese, egg yolk, lemon zest and 1/2 tsp salt until combined.  Sift 1/2 cup flour over mixture and use rubber spatula to genly fold together. Turn mixture out on a lightly floured work surface and sift remaining flour over top.  With fingertips, gently incorporate flour into dough and lightly kenad just until dough comes together (do not overwork dough).

2.  Set a large pot of salted water to boil.  Divide dough into 4 equal pieces  Roll each piece into a log about 3/4 inch think and 20 inches long.  With a knife or dough scraper, cut each log into 1/2-inch pieces.

3. Drop pieces into boiling water. Cook until they plump up and float to surface, 2 minutes.  Drain dumplings and shake off excess water.

4.  In a large skillet, melt 2 tbs butter over medium.  When it sizzles, add dumplings and cook, undisturbed, until golden on one side, 6 minutes.  (Or get golden on each side) Add 1 tbs butter to skillet and toss to coat.  Transfer to serving bown and top with cheese.  Serve warm.

FREEZER OPTION:
Before pan-frying, place boiled, drained dumplings in one layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  Drizzel with oil.  Keep at room temp for an hour.  Then freeze!
A pan for freezing, and a pan for eating NOW!

Time-saving idea: 

We eat a lot of pancakes here.  My boys love 'em and there are so many different types of pancakes that someone who gets bored easily (like me!) can stay entertained.  So, next time you make a batch of pancakes (or anything like pancakes), grab 3 big ziploc bags and fill each with all the dry ingredients to make 3 more batch later. This takes about 15 extra seconds.  Next time, you'll just need to add these to the "wet" ingredients - a cup of milk and an egg, for example.  OR BETTER YET, you can throw the wet ingredients in the bag, mix in the bag without getting another bowl and spoon dirty...and then just cut off the corner of the bag and squirt out your pancake mix - you can make all fun shapes and sizes this way...easily!  My sister puts her pancake batter in a large cleaned-out ketchup bottle...then lets the kids squiiiiiiiirt out their own.  FUN, FUN, FUN!  Give it a try.  Fast, easy, very little clean up!!!!  Have fun with it!