Feather Light Smoked Cheese Gnudi

This Smoked Cheese Gnudi recipe is from Giancarlo & Katie Caldesi’s book Amalfi Coast, where it is titled ‘Gnocchi Ripieni’. Although these aren’t actually stuffed (ripieni), the alternative name comes from the way the cheese centre melts in the mouth, giving the impression of gnocchi stuffed with cheese.

We love this recipe and have made it many times, serving it with different pasta sauces such as tomato, pesto and a creamy spiced one based on a ready-made harissa paste.

The gnocchi are so incredibly soft and light that they melt as soon as you pop them into your mouth; it’s a wonder they don’t disintegrate before you can eat them!

Read our review of Giancarlo & Katie Caldesi’s Amalfi Coast.

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Smoked Cheese Gnudi

This recipe is from Giancarlo & Katie Caldesi’s book Amalfi Coast, where it is titled 'Gnocchi Ripieni'. Although these aren't actually stuffed (ripieni), this name for the soft little pillows of cheese, flour and egg comes from the way the cheese centre melts in the mouth, giving the impression of gnocchi stuffed with cheese. 

Ingredients

• 250 grams ricotta, drained
• 1 egg
• 35 grams plain flour
• 50 grams parmesan, finely grated
• 25 grams smoked cheese, finely grated
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• basil leaves (to serve)
• parmesan shavings (to serve)
• your choice of pasta sauce (to serve)

Notes

Note: The recipe also includes 50 grams semolina, used to coat the gnocchi, which we omitted.

Instructions

• Mix the gnocchi ingredients together in a bowl, using an electric whisk or mixer to achieve a smooth texture.
• To shape the gnocchi use two spoons and make quenelles – take a spoonful of mixture and use the second spoon to shape it, squeezing and transferring it between the two spoons one or more times to finish the shape.
• The original recipe calls for rolling the finished shapes in semolina before cooking. However, we decided to gently drop each gnocchi into a pan of boiling water as soon as it was shaped, without the semolina.
• The gnocchi are cooked when they float to the surface, having dropped down to the bottom of the pan initially. Remove them carefully from the pan using a slotted spoon and transfer them to the pan of pre-heated tomato sauce to stay warm until the rest are ready. Ideally, this needs two people working together, one to shape and drop the gnocchi and the other to scoop them from the water as soon as they are cooked.
• Very gently mix the cooked gnocchi into the sauce, taking care not to break them.
• Garnish with fresh basil and shavings of parmesan to serve.

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Kavey Eats received a review copy of The Amalfi Coast from publisher Hardie Grant.