I love dumplings! Since last weekend after seeing Ottolenghi's Guardian column on dumplings this has been on my hot to try list. Gnudi is very similar to gnocchi but made with ricotta instead of potato. The word Gnudi translated to 'naked' from any pasta wrapping.
This recipe starts by roasting 30g of pine nuts and them blitzing them finely. 250g of ricotta needs to have as much moisture removed as possible, a very important step. Add the ricotta and pine nuts to a bowl and crack in two whole eggs and one egg white.
To the mixture add half a teaspoon of nutmeg, a quarter teaspoon of baking powder, 50g Parmesan cheese, 50g of fine semolina, half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of white pepper. Combine and leave in the fridge for at least one hour.
After an hour take the mixture out of the fridge and with two teaspoons form walnut sized balls and coat these with fine semolina. Should make approx 30 pieces. Chill these in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water with one tablespoon of salt to boil, then turn down to a simmer. Place half the dumplings carefully into the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Once they float to the top of the pot cook for three minutes then remove and repeat with the next batch.
In a pan add 40g butter and one and a half tablespoons of olive oil. Once the butter starts to froth add the strips of lemon zest.
Then add 3 thinly sliced cloves of garlic, one and a half tablespoons of shredded sage leaves, and quarter teaspoon of chili and a tablespoon of lemon juice.
Place the cooked dumplings into the pan until warmed through and coated. Plate up and drizzle with the sauce and grate over with some fresh Parmesan. Light in texture, pillowy, packed full of flavour and absolutely delicious!
Will make this again for sure but will take extra time to ensure more of the moisture is taken out of the ricotta so they are easier to handle and can be rolled into balls!
