Spinach and ricotta gnudi recipe
Tender little dumplings, as fragile as a pasta filling, which is how they got their name: gnudi is Tuscan dialect for ‘naked’. They take a bit of time to make: you need a light touch, as forming them is like handling flowers. They’re best unadorned, served with nothing more than melted butter.
Recipe from How To Eat A Peach by Diana Henry. Published by Mitchell Beazley, £25.
Ingredients
- 1 pinch sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 250 g ricotta, preferably fresh rather than UHT
- 470 g spinach, coarse stalks removed
- 30 g unsalted butter, plus 50g (1¾oz) to serve
- 1 quarter of a small onion, very finely chopped
- 2 egg yolks
- 100 g finely grated parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
- 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 30 g plain flour, plus more to dust
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Pasta
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 40 mins
- Cooking Time: 20 mins
- Serves: 6
Step-by-step
- Put the ricotta in a sieve lined with muslin or a brand new J-cloth and leave for a couple of hours to let the excess moisture drain away.
- Wash the spinach and put it in a large pan with the water that’s left clinging to the leaves. Cover and set over a medium heat to wilt for 5–6 minutes, turning the leaves halfway through.
- Tip into a colander and leave to cool, then squeeze out every bit of moisture either with your fists or by putting the spinach – in batches – between 2 dinner plates and pressing them together. Chop the spinach finely.
- Melt the 30g (1oz) of butter and gently sauté the onion until soft but not coloured.
- Add the spinach and stir it round; more moisture should evaporate in the heat of the pan.
- Scrape the spinach into a bowl and allow to cool, then mix in the ricotta, egg yolks, parmesan, nutmeg, flour and seasoning. Taste a bit of the raw mixture for seasoning.
- Sprinkle a dusting of flour on to a large baking tray. Using wet hands (these work better than floured hands), roll the mixture into nuggets, a bit bigger than a marble but smaller than a walnut, then roll each gently in the flour to coat lightly.
- Put on a plate, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 1 day, to firm them up (the chilling here is vital).
- Put a really big saucepan of lightly salted water on to boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Melt the 50g (1¾oz) butter in a large frying pan or sauté pan, then take it off the heat.
- Cook the gnudi in batches by dropping them into the water. After a couple of minutes they should have bobbed to the surface, so lift them out with a slotted spoon and drop them into the butter.
- Shake around a little and cover the pan. When all the gnudi are cooked, gently heat them through in the butter.
- Serve in warmed dishes, sprinkling with a little more parmesan and grinding on some black pepper.
This recipe from How To Eat A Peach by Diana Henry. Published by Mitchell Beazley, £25. Photography by Laura Edwards.
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