- 4
- 30 mins
- 30 mins
Ingredients
- For the gnudi:
- 16 ounces best quality fresh sheep or cow's milk ricotta
- 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups semolina flour
- For Finishing
- 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 12 to 15 fresh sage leaves
Preparation
Step 1
Serious Heat
Normally I'm all about innovation and deep digging and hardcore testing here at The Food Lab. But this time I'm starting with a dish so iconic, so incredible, so damn-near-flawless in its original form that the best I can possibly hope to do is tweak it just a bit to suit my very particular personal tastes. I'm talking about the ricotta gnudi at The Spotted Pig, April Bloomfield's West Village gastropub. Thin, thin pasta surrounds a core of creamy, explosive sheep's milk ricotta all served in a brown butter and sage sauce. And the good news is that my favorite dish isn't even that hard to make.
Partially freezing the ricotta mixture makes it easy to scoop up with a cookie scoop, saving you from having to try and work with soft, moist ricotta.
The Food Lab: The Easiest Way to Make April Bloomfield's Ricotta Gnudi at Home
Line a large plate with three layers of paper towels or a clean dish towel. Transfer ricotta directly to paper towels and spread with a rubber spatula. Place another triple layer of paper towels or a clean dish towel on top and press down firmly with the palms of your hands to blot excess moisture. Peel off upper paper towels.
Place a large bowl on a scale and zero the scale. Scrape ricotta into bowl to weigh. Remove excess ricotta to leave exactly 12 ounces. Reserve excess ricotta for another use. Add Parmesan and season heavily with black pepper. Combine mixture with a rubber spatula. Season to taste with salt. Transfer to a large clean plate and spread into a thin, even layer. Transfer to freezer and let chill for 15 minutes.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until foaming subsides, butter solids are golden brown, and butter has a nutty aroma. Add sage leaves, season lightly with salt, and cook, turning the leaves occasionally, until crisp, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the leaves to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Reserve browned butter off-heat.
Place the remaining butter in a medium skillet. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add gnudi and cook, stirring very gently, for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnudi to the skillet with the butter, making sure that plenty of pasta water gets into the pan with the gnudi.
Place the skillet over high heat and cook, shaking the pan and gently stirring the gnudi until the butter and pasta water emulsify into a creamy sauce, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt.