Ricotta and spinach gnudi
Gnudi (Italian for ‘naked’) are essentially ricotta dumplings, a bit like pasta-less ravioli. The jury’s out on whether they’re naughty, but these ones are certainly nice.
Ingredients
- 400g/14oz ricottaÌý
- 2 free-range eggs, beaten
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú ’00’ flour
- 350g/12oz cooked spinach (equivalent to 1kg/2lb 4oz uncooked spinach), excess water squeezed and finely chopped
- 150g/5½oz fine semolina flour, for dusting
- 75g/2½oz unsalted butter
- 8 sage leaves
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú burrata, drained and finely chopped
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú Parmesan, grated, to serve
- black pepper, to taste
Method
Put the ricotta, beaten eggs and the ‘00’ flour in a large bowl. Add the spinach to the main mixture and mix well until firm. Prepare a baking tray with semolina flour.
Take a tablespoonful of the mixture and place into a wine glass and spin the glass around so that the mixture forms a small ball. Place the ball on the prepared tray and shake the tray so that the semolina flour coats the gnudi. This will give it a sort of shell and prevent it from breaking up. Continue until you have used up all the mixture. Place the balls on the tray uncovered in a fridge for 1 hour.Ìý
Put the butter in a large frying pan and cook on a medium heat until the butter starts to foam. Add the sage leaves and fry until the sage goes crisp. Once it does, remove the sage and place on kitchen paper to drain. Keep the butter in the pan until it turns a nutty brown. Pour the butter into a bowl and reserve. Do not wash the frying pan.Ìý
Carefully add the gnudi to a saucepan of simmering salted water, and cook until they rise to the top, then wait another 20 seconds, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the pan that you browned the butter in. Add a tablespoon of the reserved brown butter and a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water. Shake the pan.
Serve in hot pasta bowls. Divide the chopped burrata onto the cooked gnudi and finish off with the crispy sage leaves, browned butter, black pepper and grated Parmesan.Ìý
