This four-person version follows the Italian Visit Tuscany recipe by Juls’ Kitchen. The 250 g spinach is weighed after boiling, draining and squeezing; it is not a raw-leaf shopping weight. Flour, nutmeg, salt, butter and sage are unmeasured. We choose ordinary all-purpose flour for the coating, keep the ricotta refrigerated throughout draining, and gently melt the butter with sage for serving. The Italian source does not require browned butter. Allow the stated ricotta draining time; no complete preparation or cooking-time estimate is given.
Spinach and ricotta gnudi with butter and sage
Serves 4 · Difficulty Easy
Method
Put the ricotta in a colander over a bowl and let it drain for a few hours in the refrigerator. If it is very wet, leave it refrigerated overnight.
Weigh 250 g spinach after boiling, draining and squeezing it thoroughly. Let it cool, then chop it with a knife.
Mix the drained ricotta, cold spinach, 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano and beaten egg in a bowl. Add a generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, mix well with a fork and season with salt.
Dust a tray generously with flour. Shape the mixture by hand into small balls, slightly smaller than a walnut, and gently roll them in the flour.
For our serving preparation, gently melt the butter with the sage, without browning it, and keep it ready for dressing.
Cook the gnudi in batches in boiling salted water. Lift them out with a slotted spoon when they rise to the surface, after a few minutes; the source notes that this sometimes takes only one minute. Transfer to a serving dish, dress with the butter and sage, sprinkle with a little more grated Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately.
