Gnudi: delicate ricotta-parmesan gnocchi
| January 4, 2010 | Posted by ameliaps under any season, cheese, gnocchi, pasta and grains, ricotta, vegetarian |
These delicate and fluffy little gnocchi are a specialty at the The Spotted Pig in New York City. They are JUST ricotta and Parmesan: no flour, no potato, no egg!
I got the recipe from Zen can cook. I cooked them twice and seasoned once with brown butter and sage and another time with a light tomato-cream sauce with basil.
Ricotta gnudi, with brown butter and sage
inspired by the Spotted Pig
(serves 4)
1 lb fresh ricotta
¼ cup grated parmegiano-reggiano
½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cups semolina flour
4 tablespoons butter
Sage
Mix the ricotta, the parmigiano and the squeezed lemon juice in a medium-bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In a shallow platter, spread out a third of the semolina. Put the ricotta mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a #9 or #10 tip and pipe blobs (the equivalent of 1 tablespoon) onto the semolina. Cover with the remaining semolina (it should look like the Saharian desert at this point) and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 24 hours (the more the better…I was not patient enough and I paid for that!). When ready to proceed, pick up the gnudi from the semolina brushing off the excess, and roll them in the palm of your hands one by one to round them up (it also helps to ‘set’ the skin). Refrigerate until ready to use.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, “brown” the butter and fry the sage leaves in it (then drain them on paper towel). Gently drop the gnudi in the water and cook until they start coming back to the surface, about 3 minutes. Carefully transfer the drained gnudi (they should hold their shape nicely) to 4 plates and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with fried sage leaves, and pour the brown butter over them.
Serve immediately.
And here’s the variation with a very fresh and delicate tomato-basil-cream sauce. They were wonderful.
I would say this is the summer version…
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Both versions look so good!
Maybe I should take a trip to the gnudi desert, sounds tempting! Do I need to pipe the dough or can I also form it with a spoon, my hands, etc.?
@Zeralda: well, piping makes them more uniform and easy to form…but you can try using two spoons to form quenelles
I’m so glad I stumbled on this recipe! I had ‘gnudi’ (with butter and sage) for the first time in a recent trip to Florence and I found them amazing. I will try your recipe!