Harrisburg’s treasured gem of a restaurant on North 3rd Street, Rubicon, is always ready to serve innovative Italian, Spanish and Mediterranean style dishes. Owned, operated and beautifully orchestrated by chef Qui Qui Musarra, I was very surprised a few years ago by a dish called “gnudi.”
I ordered it not really understanding what gnudi was, thinking it was likely a type of gnocchi made with ricotta cheese instead of potato or semolina flour.
I have learned. Gnudi are dumplings—Italian dumplings. They are ravioli without their little pasta coats—and definitely lighter fare than traditional gnocchi made from potatoes.
I had never eaten them or had ever come across a recipe for them until now. But I didn’t have to look further than my favorite celebrity Italian chef, Lidia Bastianich. I found them in her cookbook, “A Pot, a Pan and a Bowl.”
Her recipe is an easy one and can be varied with different toppings. You can use spinach with the ricotta cheese or even spicy fresh basil in the summer. Lidia tops hers with a sage butter sauce.
If you take the gnudi challenge, go to great lengths to find fresh ricotta rather than a commercial variety, which is usually too wet. Giant carries the homemade Caputo Brothers brand, which is perfect for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds dry fresh ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs beaten
- Grated zest of ½ lemon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ¾ cup fine dry bread crumbs (more if needed)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil to cook the gnudi.
- For the gnudi, combine the ricotta, eggs, lemon zest and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix well to combine.
- Stir in the grated cheese, chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon of salt and several grinds of pepper. Stir until smooth.
- Add the breadcrumbs and flour and stir until the mixture is blended and pulls off the sides of the bowl.
- As a test, roll a little of the mixture into a ball. If the ball holds its shape, it is fine. If not, add a tablespoon more of breadcrumbs and mix again until it does.
- Spread some more flour in a wide and shallow bowl. With floured hands, scoop about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture and roll into a ball. The dough should hold its shape.
- Do another test! Drop one or two of your gnudi balls into the boiling water, making sure they float to the top. If they do, you are good to go. If they do not, add a little more flour to your bowl.
- When all the gnudi are cooked (you should get about 24 balls), lay them gently on a sheet pan covered with a floured dish towel.
So, what to put over the gnudi? A simple, thin tomato sauce is all you need. Lidia dresses hers with melted butter steeped with fresh sage leaves. But a simple light Alfredo sauce is luscious too. Sprinkle a grated cheese of your choice over all.
By now, you must be thinking, “Well, this recipe is a lot of work for pasta that’s not really pasta or ravioli that’s not really ravioli.” But gnudi are delicious and great for counting carbs. I think you will enjoy throwing these little guys into the boiling water. You will have discovered Italian dumplings!
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