RICOTTA GNOCCHI OR GNUDI DI RICOTTA

Makes 30 one-inch diameter dumplings

Ricotta gnocchi are often said to have originated in the 1980’s at London’s River Café. The River Café make a wonderful version, but the claim is countered by a recipe for ricotta gnudi published in 1894 by the Italian writer Pellegrino Artusi in his “Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well,” where he gives a detailed recipe and description the dish. He explains that the name ‘gnudi’ comes from ricotta ravioli filling without its pasta cloak, and it is served with butter and herbs. In Rome, gnocchi are baked in tomato sauce; in Florence, they’re tossed with porcini; in Torino, they’re in brodo. I serve them with “milk butter,” the name I’ve given the delicious, buttery whey made from melting whole butter and drawing off the butter fat portion. The fragrant, floral Lacrima di Morro d’Alba from Santa Barbara is a dream with these wonderfully light gnocchi.

12 oz/340 g fresh sheep’s milk ricotta, pressed overnight in a fine sieve to drain
1 lg whole egg/60 g whisked
1 ½ tbsp/22 g unsalted butter, melted
4 tbsp/25g finely grated parmesan
¼ tsp/3 g sea salt
Pinch nutmeg
3 tbsp/25g AP flour plus ¾ cup/95g flour for dusting
½ lb/250g unsalted butter, melted
12 small sage leaves or 12 one-inch pieces cut from larger leaves

Press ricotta overnight in a cheesecloth-lined sieve to remove whey. Discard whey, or use for your bread baking. In a mixing bowl, add egg, melted butter, parmesan, salt, and nutmeg to ricotta and mix gently. Work in flour with a spatula. The ricotta will resemble a light dough. (You may need a little more flour, if your ricotta is wett after pressing.) Do not overmix dough. Test a teaspoon-size nugget by tossing it gently in flour, then simmering in salted water for 5 minutes to see if dough holds; if it crumbles, work a little more flour into dough and test again. Scoop dough into 1 ½ tablespoon nuggets and toss onto a flour-dusted sheet pan lined with parchment. Roll gnocchi gently in flour to coat. In your cupped hand, gently jiggle gnocchi into ovoid shapes about 2 inches long. Place gnocchi in even rows on a floured, parchment-lined sheet pan, cover with prachment, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Melt ½ lb butter over low heat until separated. Pour or scoop fat off milky portion. (A little butter fat will remain.) Warm butter in a small pan and add sage leaves. Hold in a warm spot. Cook gnocchi at a gentle boil for 5 minutes in lightly salted water, until dough is loses its transluscent center. Carefully scoop out with a slotted spoon or smooth-edged sieve, draining water off carefully, and placing on warm plates. Drizzle gnocchi with sage-infused milk butter and shower with Parmigiano.