Ricotta and Parmesan Gnudi with Sage Brown Butter
Ingredients
- 250g ricotta
- 50g finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve (optional)
- a tiny pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- fine semolina, for dusting
- 25g butter
- 4 sage leaves grated
- zest of ¼ unwaxed lemon
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Beat the ricotta and Parmesan together in a bowl. Gently season with the nutmeg (too much and the gnudi take on a slightly medicinal flavor) and a good crack of pepper. Taste the mixture before adding salt.
Scatter a layer of semolina on a tray and fill a separate bowl with semolina, to a depth of about 5cm. Using two spoons, create little spheres from the ricotta and Parmesan mixture – they don’t have to be perfectly shaped – dropping each one carefully into the bowl of semolina and rolling them around so they are completely coated. Place each gnudi on the tray, leaving space between each one so they don’t stick together.
Repeat until each sphere is coated, then cover the tray and refrigerate. Turn the gnudi every 12 hours or so for a couple of days – the longer you leave them the thicker the skin will be. Three days is optimal but you can cook them after two; just handle them very gently.
When you’re ready to cook the gnudi, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small pan over a high heat for 5–8 minutes until it browns and small black particles form – it should smell nutty and biscuity. Strain the brown butter through a fine-mesh sieve, coffee filter or a sieve lined with a piece of muslin or clean cloth then return the strained butter to the pan. Add the sage leaves and remove from the heat.
Carefully place the gnudi in the boiling water with a slotted spoon, making sure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan, and cook them for about 2 minutes until they rise to the surface (like gnocchi). As soon as they do this, scoop them out of the pan (you don’t need to drain them in a sieve – this may result in the gnudi bursting) and serve them drizzled with the browned sage butter, with a spritz of lemon zest on top and extra Parmesan if you like.
