Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi with Tomato-Butter Sauce

yield Serves 4 as a main dish or 6 as a side dish

Cobbled together from ricotta and greens, these dumplings have long evoked rustic Italian cooking. Yet precision is required to get their pillowy texture just right. Pillowy, verdant, milky-rich gnudi are Italian dumplings cobbled together from ricotta and greens (usually fresh spinach or chard), delicately seasoned, and bound with egg and flour and/or bread crumbs. The trick to making them well is water management: Both the cheese and the greens are loaded with moisture, much of which needs to be either removed or bound up lest the dough be too difficult to handle or require so much binder that the dumplings are leaden instead of light. We found that “towel-drying” the ricotta on a paper towel–lined rimmed baking sheet efficiently drained the cheese in just 10 minutes (as opposed to draining the cheese in a fine-mesh strainer for several hours or even overnight, as some recipes suggest). Instead of blanching fresh spinach to break down its cells and release its water, we used frozen spinach, which readily gives up its water when it thaws; all we had to do was squeeze it dry. A combination of protein-rich egg whites, flour, and panko bread crumbs (which lightened the mixture because they broke up the structure and made it heterogeneous) bound the mixture into a light, tender dough that we scooped and rolled into rounds and then gently poached in salted water. Taking inspiration from both traditional sauces—bright tomato sugo and rich browned butter—we made a hybrid accompaniment by toasting garlic in browning butter and adding halved fresh cherry tomatoes, which collapsed and spilled their bright juices into the rich backdrop.

Read notes

Whole-milk ricotta cheese 12 ounces (340 grams) (1½ cups)

All-purpose flour 1/2 cup

Parmesan cheese, grated 1 ounce (28 grams) (1⁄2 cup)

Panko bread crumbs 1 tablespoon

Table salt 3/4 teaspoon

Pepper 1/2 teaspoon

Grated lemon zest 1/4 teaspoon

Frozen whole-leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 10 ounces (283 grams)

Large egg whites, lightly beaten 2

Prepare ricotta Combine dry ingredients Process spinach Combine ricotta and spinach Add egg whites

Shape gnudi

Unsalted butter 4 tablespoons

Garlic cloves, sliced thin 3

Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved 12 ounces (340 grams)

Cider vinegar 2 teaspoons

Table salt 1/4 teaspoon

Pepper 1/4 teaspoon

Make sauce

Cook gnudi

Fresh basil, shredded 2 tablespoons

Parmesan cheese, grated extra for garnishing

Finish sauce and combine Garnish and serve

Ricotta without stabilizers such as locust bean, guar, and xanthan gums drains more readily. You can substitute part-skim ricotta for the whole-milk ricotta. Frozen whole-leaf spinach is easiest to squeeze dry, but frozen chopped spinach will work. Squeezing the spinach should remove ½ to ⅔ cup of liquid; you should have ⅔ cup of finely chopped spinach. Our tomato-butter sauce isn't strictly canonical; if you'd prefer a more traditional accompaniment, substitute our Simple Tomato Sauce or browned butter and fresh sage. Serve with a simple salad.
Line rimmed baking sheet with double layer of paper towels. Spread ricotta in even layer over towels; set aside and let sit for 10 minutes.
Place flour, Parmesan, panko, salt, pepper, and lemon zest in large bowl and stir to combine.
Process spinach in food processor until finely chopped, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Transfer spinach to bowl with flour mixture. Grasp paper towels and fold ricotta in half; peel back towels. Rotate sheet 90 degrees and repeat folding and peeling 2 more times to consolidate ricotta into smaller mass. Using paper towels as sling, transfer ricotta to bowl with spinach mixture.
Discard paper towels but do not wash sheet. Add egg whites to bowl and mix gently until well combined.
Transfer heaping teaspoons of dough to now-empty sheet (you should have 45 to 50 portions). Using your dry hands, gently roll each portion into 1-inch ball.
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, swirling saucepan occasionally, until butter is very foamy and garlic is pale golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Off heat, add tomatoes and vinegar; cover and set aside.
Bring 1 quart water to boil in Dutch oven. Add 1½ teaspoons salt. Using spider skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer all gnudi to water. Return water to gentle simmer. Cook, adjusting heat to maintain gentle simmer, for 5 minutes, starting timer once water has returned to simmer (to confirm doneness, cut 1 dumpling in half; center should be firm).
While gnudi simmer, add salt and pepper to sauce and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are warmed through and slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Divide sauce evenly among 4 bowls. Using spider skimmer or slotted spoon, remove gnudi from pot, drain well, and transfer to bowls with sauce.
Garnish with basil and extra Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Fast Track to Water Management: The two key components in gnudi greens usually spinach or chard and ricotta contain loads of water that must be removed so that the dough isnt too wet and sticky to handle or too loose to form cohesive dumplings. All told our techniques eliminate nearly a cup of water.

Towel-Dry Ricotta:Letting the ricotta sit in a paper towellined fine-mesh strainer is a common method for removing its whey but it can take up to hours to drain off just a few tablespoons. Towel-drying the cheese in a thin layer on a paper towellined rimmed baking sheet creates more surface area to remove just as much liquid in about minutes.

METHOD: Line rimmed baking sheet with double layer of paper towels. Spread ricotta in even layer over towels and set aside for minutes. Grasp paper towels and fold ricotta in half peel back towels. Rotate sheet degrees and repeat folding and peeling more times to consolidate ricotta into smaller mass. Using paper towels as sling transfer ricotta to bowl.

Use Frozen Spinach: Ridding raw spinach of excess moisture is often done by blanching the leaves which damages their cells and releases their water. But theres a much simpler way to get this result using frozen spinach. Freezing spinach turns its water into jagged ice crystals that break the cells open when the spinach thaws the water practically pours from the leaves and can be easily wrung out with your hands.

METHOD: Divide spinach frozen whole leaf thawed into or portions. Gather portion in your hands and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Repeat with remaining portions.