Gnudi with Porcini Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 250g fresh ricotta
• 50g freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 250g semolina, approx
• 50g butter
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
• about 20 sage leaves
• pepper
• extra grated Parmesan to serve

Method

Put ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg into a bowl and beat together until smooth.

Pour the semolina into a shallow tray. Slightly wet the palms of your hands and briefly lay them in the semolina. Now take up a small piece of the ricotta mix, gently roll it into a ball about the size of a big marble and drop it into the semolina. Push the tray back and forth to fully coat the ball with semolina and continue this process until all the ricotta mixture is used up. Transfer the gnudi into a tub, sprinkle semolina between each layer and on top, making sure the dumplings are well covered.

Place in fridge, covered overnight.

The next day, carefully lift out the gnudi out of the semolina and put onto a large plate lined with kitchen paper.

Put a large, wide pot of lightly salted water on to boil

Meanwhile, melt the butter over a low heat. When it is frothing, toss in the sage leaves, gently cook them until crisp, and without the butter becoming too brown – it should however, smell nutty and look golden. Once the leaves are crisp, lift them out and set them to one side, turn off the heat but leave the sage infused butter in the pan.

Once the water boils, turn it down to a simmer and slide in the gnudi. Now turn up the heat a touch and wait until the gnudi float to the surface about 4-5 minutes

When all the gnudi have risen, carefully lift them out using a slotted spoon, drain well and add to the pan with the sage infused butter.

To serve divide Porcini and spinach sauce between 4 plates and place cooked gnudi on top. Finish with the fried sage leaves and parmesan.