Tuscan gnudi

This delicious recipe for gnudi are tasty ricotta cheese dumplings loaded up with spinach and parmesan cheese and are served with melted butter and sage.

If you’re a big dumpling fan, then these are definitely for you.

 Often times called naked ravioli, gnudi is essentially the stuffing that goes into the ravioli.

These are incredibly easy to prepare with your kids and cook in only minutes making them a great weeknight meal or even an appetizer.  These go a long way and will fill you up quickly.

What do you need

• 400 gr of fresh spinach or 500 gr of frozen spinach

• 400 gr of ricotta cheese

• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

• 2 medium eggs

• 160 gr of all purpose flour

• a pinch of grated nutmeg

• 160 gr of grated Parmigiano Reggiano

• salt and pepper to taste

For the seasoning

• 90 gr of unsalted butter

• 5/6 sage leaves

How to proceed

Boil the spinach in very little salted water for about 5 minutes. Then drain them very well, squeezing to drain the water with the help of a fork.

Chop up the spinach with a knife on a cutting board or with scissors on a plate. DO NOT use an electric vegetable grinder to avoid making the spinach a mush. Place the spinach in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and cook them on medium/high heat for 2/3 minutes to flavor and dry them even more.

Let the spinach cool a little then place them in a large bowl and add the ricotta, stirring with a fork.

Then add the eggs and the grated parmigiano. Mix to combine.

Add enough nutmeg to flavor the mixture well, preferably freshly grated. Then start to incorporate the flour little by little, keeping to stir with a spoon until the mixture is well blended and very soft.

Now it’s time to give gnudi a shape. You can choose between a round or oval shape. As you like best. We are going to show you how to make gnudi with a rather elongated oval shape, like the traditional Italian recipe. So first cover a tray with baking paper with plenty of flour. The dough must be very soft and could stick to the fingers, so help yourself with two spoons and make the classic oval shape of about 5 cm.

Whenever the gnudi are ready, place them on the floured tray, well spaced from each other.

To cook, bring a large pan of water to a gentle boil. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat, then set aside and keep warm. Drop half the gnudi into the boiling water, turn down the heat and gently cook for 3 minutes or until the gnudi float to the surface. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon, drain off the excess water, then toss in the melted butter. Repeat with the rest of the gnudi, then shave over plenty of parmesan before serving.