Orange Ricotta Dumplings with Lavender Butter

Orange Ricotta Breakfast Dumplings

(Makes about 25 small dumplings)

Ingredients:

For the dumplings
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup all purpose flour divided in half
1 medium egg lightly beaten
1 teaspoon orange zest plus more for garnish

For lavender butter
3 tablespoon sweet cream butter
2 teaspoons lavender sugar (recipe below)
¼ teaspoon dried lavender
Small piece of orange rind (optional)

For Lavender Butter

Simply add four tablespoons of dried lavender and add to two cups sugar. Blend on “pulse” speed for a few seconds and set sugar aside in a closed container (we prefer glass) for two weeks before use. You can sift out the lavendar, but I just left it in and it was delish!

Prepare the dumplings:

In a medium pot bring to a gentle boil 2 quarts of lightly salted water.

In a large bowl mix the ricotta with the egg, add ½ of flour and mix it with a spoon to form it into a ball, add orange zest and then more flour little by little as needed. The dough will be very sticky, but not wet, and the amount of flour you use will depend on how much moisture is in the ricotta cheese you use. However, one cup is about right, so don’t add too much flour as it toughens the dumpling.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and cut in half. With your palms, gently roll it into two long strands about ½ inch thick. With a knife, slice each strand on diagonal into about half inch wide dumplings. This will make approximately 44 dumplings. Transfer all the dumplings to a large pot and boil until all float to the surface, about 10 minutes.

Prepare the lavender butter:

In the mean time in a frying pan or small sauce pan, on a medium heat, melt butter with lavender sugar, dried lavender and orange rind. Cook for few minutes, being carful not to brown the mixture.

Serve:

Arrange cooked dumplings on a serving platter or divide into small bowls. Top with lavender butter, garnish with orange zest and some fresh lavender petals, serve immediately.

(this recipe is verbatim from Design Sponge. It was perfect and I didn't change anything, so want to give credit where credit is due!)