I’ve never had gnudi made with anything other than 00 flour, but this dish uses semolina for a toothsome bite. A number of toppings, such as marinara, pesto, or brown butter-sage sauce, can be used with these pillowy gnudi.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 25 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (Optional)
- ¾ cup Italian-style tipo 00 flour
- ½ cup semolina flour
- 1 tablespoon flour for dusting
- 1 (16 ounce) jar marinara sauce
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into ribbons
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil.
- Meanwhile, combine ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl; mix well. Add in 00 flour.
- Sift in semolina flour and carefully fold into ricotta mixture until semolina flour is just incorporated and a soft dough forms.
- Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut dough into 4 pieces. Roll each section into a long rope about 3/4 inch in diameter.
- Cut the rope into 1-inch long pieces with a butter knife. Use your forefinger and press down into the middle of each gnudi to create a small dimple. Set the gnudi on a lightly floured baking sheet.
- Drop gnudi in batches into the simmering water and cook until they float to the surface, less than 1 minute.
- Drain gnudi and transfer to bowls.
- Meanwhile, heat marinara sauce in a saucepan until hot, about 5 minutes.
- Top each portion generously with marinara sauce, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and basil ribbons.
- You do not want to add excess flour. The gnudi dough should be soft. Too much flour or too much handling the dough will create tough gnudi.
- I often use the metric system as opposed to the imperial system when making gnudi. If you have a scale, I used 90 grams 00 flour and 83 grams semolina flour.
Reviews
I’ve made gnocchi many times, but never heard of Gnudi (it means ‘naked’ in Italian). Gnudi typically has spinach, and when no spinach is used, it is often called Ricotta Gnocchi. Since Gnudi does not use potato, I agree with the name Gnudi, spinach or not. I did make this exactly as written, including 00 flour and semolina. They were so much lighter than gnocchi. For the sauce, I decided on a sage brown butter with walnuts and smashed garlic instead of the recipe’s red sauce for a change. I had a lot leftover, so I froze them on a baking sheet and then stored them in a ziplock.