Gnudi...Who Knew?

Kale Gnudi

Last night I went out to dinner with my cousin Christine who also happens to be one of my best friends. My mom and her mom are sisters and ever since we were young girls we were always as close as two cousins can be. She is one year older than me and we have been through every stage of life together.  We went to elementary and high school together, we were on the same cheerleading team (she says I made the cheer team because of her exceptional coaching - I say I was just that exceptional!), I was out with her the night I met my husband at 67 West (she wanted to go home hours earlier but stayed knowing how well Dave and I were hitting it off - love you for that!), she was my bridesmaid, she is the Godmother of Nate and Tyler and she, and her dog Meeko are adored by all three of my boys.  I don't see her as often as I would like but when I do see her we make sure to schedule a good three hours together.  We went to a great restaurant called CRAVing. As I was perusing the menu I noticed a dish called Gnudi on the specials list.  I had never heard of it before but it sounded intriguing. There were so many other fabulous entrees on the menu that I didn't even bother asking the waiter what gnudi was. So we ordered Surf & Turf Sliders, Steak, Banana Peppers & Goat Cheese Pizza and Butternut Squash Handkerchief Pasta...everything was superb, including our barely grasping for air conversation!

So the next morning at work I passed by the Buffalo News which was sitting on a table outside of my office. I glanced at the "Taste" section and it had the most beautiful delectable looking dish on the cover. It looked like a cross between gnocchi and spinach meatballs, minus the meat. The big bold headline was titled "Getting to Know Gnudi." I was like OMG, gnudi was on the specials menu at CRAVing and now I'm seeing gnudi again.  I'm thinking wow, this might be a sign, a match made in heaven, I need to get to know gnudi!!! Sorry Dave- didn't mean to get so carried away! After reading the article I learned that Gnudi is an italian dish that dates back to the 1200's!  Man- gnudi is old, like really old. Being 100 % italian I'm a bit embarrassed to even admit that I had never heard of it before. Gnudi is pronounced like new-dee and they are basically ricotta dumplings. From the article they looked delicious, sounded delicious so I was like I am so making these magical morsels for dinner tonight. Luckily, I had all of the ingredients on hand except the ricotta, no big deal I just stopped at Dash's to get some. I also didn't have spinach, I had kale so I used that instead, very wise choice by the way!  The recipe was easy to make and most of the ingredients are staples in many households. It tastes similar to gnocchi but it's creamier and less dense. I served it as a main entree for my family. I didn't serve a protein with it and I was satisfied, Dave on the other hand thought braised beef or a hearty fish would be a nice compliment. There are so many variations, it can be made with squash or spinach or it can be served with a butter sage sauce or a marinara sauce like I did.

So would I make gnudi again? Absolutely! Who knew he'd be so great. Salute, to you getting to know Gnudi too!

Kale Gnudi (click to print recipe)

This recipe makes about 30

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk ricotta
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 12 oz cooked kale finely chopped
• salt n pepper
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

In a medium size pot boil water and add salt.  In a large mixing bowl mix all of the ingredients. with floured hands, shape ricotta mixture into tablespoon sized balls, pictured above. Set ricotta balls on wax paper before cooking them.  Place 6-8 balls in boiling water. Do not overcrowd. Once balls surface to the top of the water cook for 4 more minutes.  With a slotted spoon remove balls from water and place on a plate with olive oil. Boil the rest of the ricotta balls. For a main entree serve 5-6 per plate and add heated marinara sauce.  Eat and enjoy!

Food Impressions:

Nate: He tasted one bite and his facial expression looked like he had just bitten into a sour lemon! I said "Nate, don't you like it?"  He said "No, it's actually pretty good but it doesn't taste like pasta."  I said "It's not really supposed to it's a ricotta dumpling." He didn't eat anymore, I don't think he could get passed the texture thing.

Zachary: "Oh my gosh, this is so amazing. I want more. What is this stuff again?" (Hey what can I say it has ricotta and parm cheese, of course he's gonna love it!)

Tyler: "Wow, this is really yummy." (He devoured his gnudi within minutes!)

*In addition to the boy's food impressions, they also got a good laugh out of pronouncing the name of the dish and kept saying NUDE-EE!

Dave: "These taste like airy light clouds of deliciousness. Each bite you take has layers of flavor."
I could tell he was enjoying giving me his food impression...he would take a small bite, chew slowly, sip some wine, then comment.  He repeated that process over and over!

Andrea (me): I thought this dish were absolutely delicious. I really enjoyed making this new recipe and watching my family's reaction when they took their first bite.  With the exception of Nate, everyone really loved it, so I would for sure make this again. It would also be good as an appetizer.