A Holiday Recipe from Laura

Gnudi with a Butter & Sage Sauce

“If clouds were made of cheese, and naughty, they’d be gnudi.” – Serious Eats
 
This is our absolute favorite description of the light, pillowy cheesy dumplings that are gnudi (pronounced like “nudie”).
 
Laura opened up her kitchen for a holiday edition Live Cooking Demo the other night and prepared these delicious and somewhat risqué balls of ricotta cheese and spinach with a butter and sage sauce. 

You see the term gnudi, or naked, refers to their resemblance to ravioli without the pasta so they are basically the filling in the nude.

In Laura’s kitchen on Christmas morning, you’ll find her preparing the classic ricotta and spinach gnudi to serve with a savory broth but this year she plans to cook them up with a delicate butter and sage sauce. 

You can see the Live Cooking Demo on our Facebook page, as always. 

INGREDIENTS - Serves 4 
500 g fresh spinach (17-18 oz.)
300 g fresh sheep’s milk ricotta (10-11 oz.)
2 eggs
White flour
Grated Parmigiano
Nutmeg 
Salt & pepper 
80 grams unsalted butter 
1 bunch fresh sage 

1. Cook the spinach in a pan with a little water. When cooked through and soft, remove the spinach from the pan, strain well and cut into small pieces. If the spinach still seems to have some moisture, cook it in a pan at a high heat for about 2 minutes completely on its own (no olive oil or water) until it is more dry. 
2. If the ricotta is watery, decant into a fine plastic sieve over a bowl and let it drain. 
3. Mix the spinach in a bowl with the ricotta, eggs, 2 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 1-2 tablespoons of flour (as needed to hold the mixture together well). Laura does not recommend adding too much flour because you don't want the gnudi to become too dense. The beauty of gnudi is the lightness and how the melt in your mouth. 
4. Mix the dough well until all of the ingredients are nicely combined and then shape into individual balls about the size of gnocchi. Then dust the balls with flour.
5. Put water Into a large pot (a pasta pot) and bring to a boil and add a pinch or two of salt.
6. While you're waiting for the water to boil, put your butter and sage (about 4-5 leaves) into a small sauce pan. Now put that small sauce pan into a slightly larger one that is filled about 1/4 to 1/2 with water. Put both over a low-to-medium until the butter is melted fully. You do this to melt the better and create a delicate sauce with the sage vs. frying up the sage in a pan of butter. This method is called "bagnomaria." 
7. Once the water is boiling, bring the heat down to a summer (this is very important!!), then carefully add the gnudi in batches and cook until they rise to the surface (1-2 minutes). Remove the gnudi with a slotted spoon and divide among serving bowls.
8. Sprinkle the gnudi with grated Parmigiano first and then pour your melted butter and sage sauce on top. Add a little more grated Parmigiano to finish it off and then Buon Appetito!!! 

We recommend enjoying this delicate and delicious dish with our Livia white wine blend of Viognier and Roussanne as it will compliment it perfectly.