Gnudi - Spinach & Ricotta Dumplings

Gnudi!? What a strange name for a food.

Pronounced "nu-dee" Gnudi is a type of gnocchi made from ricotta cheese and a little flour. This results in a light and fluffy dumpling that is like the filling of ravioli. A 'nude' ravioli if you like.

This recipe comes from the Light of Lucia cookbook written by the gorgeous Luciana Sampogna who runs Sydney's Cucina Italiana cooking school in Annandale. I attended one of her cooking classes last year and loved it so much I signed Pete up for one for his birthday. If you get a chance book in for one of her classes - great food & fun.

This recipe is for the 'European' cookbook challenge for July/August. Yes I am a little behind in my cookbook challenges, but I will get there.

The recipe prelude reads:

" A classic Tuscan dish, these delicate little gnudi or dumplings require a watchful eye - too little flour and they may fall apart, too much flour and you'll get dumplings heavy enough to incur the wrath of your mother-in-law"


I can actually hear Luciana saying this!

Pete actually picked out this recipe for me to make...go figure!

Gnudi - Spinach & Ricotta Dumplings 

from Light of Lucia : A celebration of Italian life, love & food

Ingredients
500g (1 lb 2 oz) cooked spinach
( about 1kg/2lb 4 oz uncooked),
squeezed to remove water
300g (10 1/2oz) ricotta
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 tbs plain ( all purpose) flour, plus a little extra
Freshly grated nutmeg ( I used powdered nutmeg)
125g (4 1/2oz) unsalted butter ( I used Pepe Saya salted butter instead)
1 handful of sage leaves
Freshly grated parmesan, to serve

Method
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. place the squeezed spinach in a food processor and finely chop. Transfer to a large bowl with the ricotta and combine well. Mix in the eggs and flour, season and drop into boiling water to see if it holds its shape when cooked. If not, add a little of the extra flour to the mixture.

Gnudi Goo :)

I found that my first attempt needed the extra flour to be added.

When you are ready to serve, return the water to the boil, adding plenty of salt. Shape the mixture into dumplings as before and drop, in batches, in boiling water. As soon as dumplings float to the surface, cook for 1 minute, then remove with slotted spoon and place in a shallow serving bowl.

Place butter and sage in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter is melted and bubbling and sage is crisp. Pour over the gnudi and serve sprinkled with parmesan.

Serves 6

I actually halved the ingredients as I only made this for the 2 of us.

We both really loved this dish, the photos don't do it justice either. With the addition of butter it's not something you would have everyday but it is a nice treat. We both really enjoyed the texture of the gnudi and overall, thoroughly enjoyed it.

I hope you do too.

Tell me, have you ever made or eaten Gnudi?