After tasting some delicious gnudi during brunch at Philadelphia's London Grill on Sunday, we decided to attempt a re-creation.
Gnudi? You may be thinking. What IS that? A google search links to a thread on Chowhound.com entitled "gnudi- what is it, exactly?" and answers range from "I don't know, but gosh it sounds like fun" to "A dish that is precisely ravioli without the pasta wrapper."
We're still confused. Even while eating them, we likened them to mozarella sticks, dumplings and spinach cookies. But here's what we've devised: Gnudi are essentially dough balls of cheese and spinach. The recipe we found online called for boiling them, but skeptical, we divided the batch and baked half in the oven with far better results. These would make a great appetizer, but preparing them for dinner left us slightly wanting. Also, we dunked them in pasta sauce, but you could also dress them with pesto.
We found our recipe from the food network, but there are a few others floating around the interwebs as well. If you do use this one, instead of boiling the gnudi, bake them for about 30 minutes at 350. Additionally, to get the beautiful, round shape, put the each piece dough into a wine glass with a bit of flour and shake it around until it forms a ball. Happy gnuding!
Gnudi dough (egg, cheese, spinach, spices)
Forming gnudi in a wine glass...
Well-shaped gnudi, ready for baking
The final product! Crispy, savory gnudi
