If you visit here often you know I have a great recipe for gnocchi - wee Italian potato dumplings. I once made ricotta from scratch and using some for gnudi seemed like a good plan. Now I make them from store-bought ricotta. What are gnudi? Some say they are basically “gnocchi” made with ricotta instead of potatoes.
There are some differences: sometimes gnudi are a bit larger than gnocchi; spinach is often mixed with the ricotta and an egg binds the mixture. (If you visit my gnocchi page you can read about the “egg vs. no egg” gnocchi controversy and learn about Marcella Hazan’s opinion.)
I’ve been told that restaurants prefer to use ricotta - often referring to the dumplings as “ricotta gnocchi” rather than explaining what gnudi are. Using ricotta is less labour intensive and time-consuming. With potatoes, you have to boil them and make the gnocchi when the potatoes are at just the right temperature. Using ricotta you can have a batch ready more quickly with no “potato boiling” hassles.
I have never tried to freeze gnudi. I always freeze potato gnocchi - uncooked - great to have these on hand.
This recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen with my modifications. I’m a big ATK fan but they sometimes seem to make things too complicated. Their recipe assumes that the ricotta you buy will be quite wet - so they have a complex method for drying/removing as much liquid as possible. If the ricotta you buy IS very wet then for sure dry it with towels/paper towels. I use Santa Lucia ricotta - it is wrapped in wet paper but overall the ricotta tends to be more dry than wet. A wee squeeze in paper towels is plenty. (See Notes for a few important points about Santa Lucia.)
Getting Ready
try to purchase Santa Lucia ricotta cheese - comes in a 500 g package - you’ll only need 340 g
grate Parmesan
thaw frozen spinach (whole leaf or chopped); squeeze dry and chop - yielding about 2/3 cup
separate 2 eggs just before preparing - you’ll only use the whites
prep large cookie/bake sheet lined with parchment
pasta pot or Dutch oven to cook gnudi
slotted spoon or spider to remove gnudi from cooking water
Here's the Recipe!
Process/ Steps will be:
prep spinach
measure and pat dry ricotta
mix dry ingredients
to dry ingredients add spinach, then ricotta and egg whites
form into balls
optional - you may pause here to make your sauce
cook and add to sauce
10 oz frozen whole-leaf or chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
You should end up with about 2/3 cup of spinach. If you want to dirty your food processor use it to finely chop the spinach - about 30 seconds. You can also chop the spinach with a sharp knife.
Set aside - you’ll be adding this to the dry ingredients.
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated will yield about 1/2 cup, plus extra for garnishing
1 TB panko bread crumbs
1/2 - 3/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
In a large bowl combine flour, Parmesan, panko, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. NB if you read my Notes below and use Santa Lucia ricotta which is saltier than most ricottas, then maybe add only 1/2 tsp of salt.
Add the finely chopped spinach to the dry mix. Use your hands to ensure a fairly even mix with no large lumps of spinach.
12 oz (340 g; 1.5 cups) whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
Mix egg whites loosely together with ricotta - or not. Add both to bowl and mix gently until well combined.
Use a table spoon or kitchen scoop to drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. ATK says you should have 45 to 50 portions, but I always forget to count. For even cooking they simple need to be the same size.
With dry hands (slightly floured if need be) gently roll each portion into 1-inch ball.
If you plan to drop the cooked gnudi into a sauce right from the cooking water, it’s best to pause now and make your simple tomato sauce, or maybe butter and sage etc.
In a pasta pot or Dutch oven bring a good amount of salted water to boil. ATK suggests doing a big dump and cooking them all at once but IMHO that’s risky. Depending upon the diameter of your pot, cook 1/4 to 1/3 at one time. Use your slotted spoon or spider to gently lower them into the boiling water. They tend to sink to the bottom. After a minute, give them a gentle stir to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom. They will begin to float up and after gently simmering for about 5 minutes remove them with the slotted spoon or spider. (Do keep in mind that apart from the egg whites all ingredients were ready to eat anyhow, so don’t “overcook” these. The main goal of the boiling process is for them to become a bit firm in the centre, thus retaining their shape in a sauce.)
Put the gnudi where?? If your sauce is ready, plop them right into the sauce kept warm on low heat. If you plan to use them shortly after place them back on the parchment lined bake sheet.
Sauce ideas? ATK suggests a super quick “sauce” of garlic, butter, cherry tomatoes and basil (pictured above). Marcella Hazan’s iconic tomato sauce is also easy and tastes fab. Garnish with grated Parmesan.
Notes and Tips...
Santa Lucia Ricotta - one reason I love this is because of the salt content. The popular brand name/traditional ricotta I used to use had only 40 mg of sodium per serving, whereas Santa Lucia has 100 mg for the same serving size. That can make a difference in any recipe! I advise you to use Santa Lucia. Check the sodium content of the ricotta you buy and adjust the salt you add to the recipe according to your preference.
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