Gnudi recipe is an Italian dish that can be a greedy alternative to the classic potato gnocchi recipe. They are small dumplings made with ricotta cheese and chopped spinach. Ricotta makes them pillow-soft, delicate and irresistible.
The gnudi recipe is one of the most typical dishes of Tuscany, a classic comfort food of the Italian tradition, made with simple ingredients.
Gnudi can be thought of as naked ravioli, since the ingredients are the same as for ravioli. They are formed into a round or elongated oval shape, then cooked and seasoned to taste.
"Gnudi" (It: nudi) in the Tuscan dialect means "naked": an appropriate name since we are talking about the filling of ravioli without its external coating, the ravioli pasta, and therefore served "naked". The “g” is silent in the pronunciation; so gnudi is pronounced "nyoo-dee" or simply "noo-dee."
Like all traditional dishes there are many versions of gnudi reccipe with small differences.
Each family has its own recipe: there are those who use spinach and those who prefer wild herbs or chicory; others prefer ricotta gnudi without spinach; some season them with butter and sage and others with tomato sauce.
So you can choose the variant you prefer: the ingredients change but the method of preparation is the same for all of them.
Ingredients
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Servings: 6
For the Gnudi
- 400 g (14 oz) of fresh spinach or 500 g (1.1 lb) of frozen spinach
- 400 g (14 oz) of ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
- 2 medium eggs
- 160 g (6 oz) of all purpose flour
- a pinch of grated nutmeg
- 160 g (6 oz) of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Seasoning
- 90 g (3 oz) of unsalted butter
- 5-6 sage leaves
Instructions
The Dough
Step 1) - Boil the spinach in very little salted water for about 5 minutes. Then drain them very well, squeezing to drain the water with the help of a fork.
Step 2) - Chop up the spinach with a knife on a cutting board or with scissors on a plate. DO NOT use an electric vegetable grinder to avoid making the spinach a mush. Place the spinach in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and cook them on medium/high heat for ⅔ minutes to flavor and dry them even more.
Step 3) - Let the spinach cool a little then place them in a large bowl and add the ricotta, stirring with a fork.
Step 4) - Then add the eggs and the grated parmigiano. Mix to combine.
Step 5) - Add enough nutmeg to flavor the mixture well, preferably freshly grated. Then start to incorporate the flour little by little, keeping to stir with a spoon until the mixture is well blended and very soft.
The Shape
Step 6) - Now it's time to give gnudi a shape. You can choose between a round or oval shape. As you like best. We are going to show you how to make gnudi with a rather elongated oval shape, like the traditional Italian recipe. So first cover a tray with baking paper with plenty of flour. The dough must be very soft and could stick to the fingers, so help yourself with two spoons and make the classic oval shape of about 5 cm (2 inch).
Step 7) - Whenever the gnudi are ready, place them on the floured tray, well spaced from each other.
The Cooking
Step 8) - In a saucepan, melt the butter with the sage leaves in a bain-marie and set aside. You will use this dressing to season spinach and ricotta gnudi.
Step 9) - Now bring to a boil a pot with plenty of salted water and cook the gnudi gnocchi a few at a time for about ⅘ minutes. As soon as gnudi come to the surface, remove them from the water with a skimmer, draining them well.
Step 10) - Place cooked gnudi in a serving dish and season them with plenty of melted butter and sage leaves. Serve gnudi hot with a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano, according to your taste.
YOU MUST ALSO TRY:
- Spinach Lasagna Recipe
- Ricotta Gnocchi Recipe
- Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
- Savory Cannoli Recipe with ricotta and pistachios
Storage
Gnudi should be eaten immediately but can be kept in the refrigerator for one day. They can be frozen both cooked and raw and can be kept for about 1 month in the freezer.
Tips
How to Cook Gnudi
In addition to the method described above, there are other ways to cook gnudi. Let's see some of them
- Stir fried Gnudi: After boiling, you can stir-fry gnudi in a pan with butter and sage for a few minutes. This step makes gnudi certainly tastier but also heavier because they fry in butter.
- Baked Gnudi: If you cannot serve gnudi immediately or you prefer a more crunchy consistency, after having drained, place them in a baking dish. Sprinkle with grate parmigiano and butter Then brown in the oven at 200°C (390 F) with grill on for a few minutes. Remove and let them rest for a couple of minutes before serving.
RICOTTA: Ricotta cheese for gnudi recipe must be very dry and firm. If your ricotta is too fresh and soft, it's better to drain it in a colander for about two hours to make it lose the excess liquid. Cow ricotta and sheep ricotta are both cheeses used to make gnudi in Italy, depending on the region and tastes.
SPINACH: For this recipe, you can use both fresh spinach or frozen spinach. Using fresh spinach is always better (the taste of gnudi is really better!), but it takes longer to clean and wash them, very often they have a lot of dirt. For frozen spinach, just dip them directly in boiling salted water for a few minutes and they are ready to use. The squeezing is essential to have the spinach as dry as possible. If you don't like the taste of spinach or want a different flavor, you can replace them with chard or chicory.
Variations
What is the difference between Tuscan gnudi and Lombard malfatti? In truth, there is little difference between these two typical Italian dishes
MALFATTI: Malfatti are very popular in Lombardy, a region in northern Italy, especially in Brescia. The name "Malfatti" means badly done that is with no shape, because with their soft texture it is difficult to give them a beautiful and precise shape. Malfatti are a sort of dumplings made with ricotta, spinach, eggs, flour as for gnudi recipe but with the addition of breadcrumbs in the mixture in place of flour.
Recipe Card
Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi Recipe
Ingredients
For the Gnudi
- 400 g spinach 14 oz, fresh or 500 g (1.1 lb) of frozen spinach
- 400 g ricotta cheese 14 oz
- 1 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 2 eggs medium size
- 160 g flour 6 oz, all purpose
- 1 pinch nutmeg grated
- 160 g Parmigiano Reggiano 6 oz, grated
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
For the Seasoning
- 90 g butter 3 oz, unsalted
- 6 leaves sage
Instructions
- Boil the spinach in very little salted water for about 5 minutes. Then drain them very well, squeezing to drain the water with the help of a fork.
- Chop up the spinach with a knife on a cutting board or with scissors on a plate. DO NOT use an electric vegetable grinder to avoid making the spinach a mush. Place the spinach in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and cook them on medium/high heat for ⅔ minutes to flavor and dry them even more.
- Let the spinach cool a little then place them in a large bowl and add the ricotta, stirring with a fork.
- Add the eggs and the grated parmigiano. Mix to combine.
- Add enough nutmeg to flavor the mixture well, preferably freshly grated. Then start to incorporate the flour little by little, keeping to stir with a spoon until the mixture is well blended and very soft.
- Now it's time to give gnudi a shape. You can choose between a round or oval shape. As you like best. We are going to show you how to make gnudi with a rather elongated oval shape, like the traditional Italian recipe. So first cover a tray with baking paper with plenty of flour. The dough must be very soft and could stick to the fingers, so help yourself with two spoons and make the classic oval shape of about 5 cm (2 inch).
- Whenever the gnudi are ready, place them on the floured tray, well spaced from each other.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter with the sage leaves in a bain-marie and set aside. You will use this dressing to season spinach and ricotta gnudi.
- Bring to a boil a pot with plenty of salted water and cook the gnudi gnocchi a few at a time for about ⅘ minutes. As soon as gnudi come to the surface, remove them from the water with a skimmer, draining them well.
- Place cooked gnudi in a serving dish and season them with plenty of melted butter and sage leaves. Serve gnudi hot with a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano, according to your taste.
Carol Donaldson says
Hello. I am so excited to have stumbled upon your recipe and can't wait to try it. My daughter-in-law is keto, do you think I can use almond flour in place of the flour?
Maria says
Almond flour has a high moisture content and does not bind the same way. King Arthur and Jovial brand both make keto-safe flour that may yield more success.
Donna says
Robert,
I have used this recipe several times with varieties from spinach to sun dried tomato and even pumpkin. Give it a try! At the end of the article directly above "Recommended" is an option to print, pdf or email. It's easy. Just print the pages you need. For me it was 1-3,5-6 and 8-9. Good Luck and Enjoy!
Robert C says
Love the recipe, BUT there is no print friendly version. To print this which includes photos & ads is 14 pages. I won’t be using this because of that
Barbara says
There is a print button at the end of the recipe. You can decide what photo or text to delete by simply clicking on it. You can also save the recipe to your browser for convenient reference whenever you want.
evelyn says
Thank you for this delicious recipe and for the print instructions above - too easy!