← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 400 g fresh spinach (or 200 g frozen, thawed)
• 400 g Ricotta, drained in a sieve for 1 hour
• 1 Eggs
• 80 g Parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
• 40 g plain flour
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 150 g fine semolina, for rolling
• 80 g Butter
• 12 sage leaves
• Salt

Method

1. Wilt the spinach in a dry pan, cool it, then squeeze out every drop of water with your hands and chop it very finely.
2. Mix the ricotta, spinach, egg, Parmesan, flour, nutmeg and a good pinch of salt into a soft, smooth paste.
3. Spread the semolina on a tray. With floured hands, roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls and roll each one in the semolina. Leave them on the tray in the fridge for 1 hour so a thin skin forms.
4. Bring a wide pan of salted water to a gentle boil. Test one gnudo first: it should hold together and float after 2–3 min. If it breaks up, roll the rest in a little more flour.
5. Melt the butter with the sage over medium heat for 3–4 min, until the butter is golden and the leaves crisp.
6. Cook the gnudi in batches, without crowding, for 3–4 min, lifting them out 1 minute after they float. Spoon into the sage butter, turn gently and serve with extra Parmesan.

Tips

• Wet ricotta is the enemy: the drier the ricotta and spinach, the lighter the gnudi.
• Traditional Parmesan uses animal rennet; choose a vegetarian hard cheese if that matters to you.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Great Italian Chefs Cooking with Manuela BBC Good Food