Sunday's Recipe Share -- Gluten free, grain free Gnudi

What's Gnudi you ask?  I didn't know what it was until I read last week's Food section of the Daily Herald.

Gnudi are ricotta dumplings--it's basically the yummy filling of a ravioli without the pasta shell.  The recipe published had soft bread crumbs as one of it's ingredients--I subbed that out with almond flour and flax seed meal.  I suppose I could have used a gluten free piece of bread, but then they would not be grain free.

Here's what they look like (I forgot to take a picture of mine--this one's from Google).

Mine didn't have any spinach in them--the next ones I make will for sure.

Here's my adaptation of the recipe:

(I doubled the recipe when I made it)

Step one:  Mix together 1 cup of whole milk ricotta, 1/2 c. of grated Parmesan (could use Asiago, pecorino Romano or combo of them), 1 egg, 2-3 Tablespoons of Almond Flour and 2-3 Tablespoons of Flax Seed Meal, and 1/2-1 full Tablespoon of Coconut Flour.  If gluten is not a concern, then you would use 5-6 Tablespoons of soft bread crumbs instead.  Season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to take--be creative with your spices--the ricotta is really a blank canvas. Let this mixture sit for 20-30 minutes so the flour can absorb any liquid and thicken the mixture.

Step Two:  Heat a large pot of well salted water to boil over high heat.  Roll the dough into 20-30 small balls with well floured hands (I used coconut flour).  Place them on a floured baking sheet--roll them in the flour to coat them--this will provide a protective layer. (mine were bigger--I got this many from the double recipe).

Step Three:  Carefully slip them into boiling water.  After they bob to the surface, cook for 2 minutes--since mine were bigger, I cooked them for more like 4 minutes.  Remove from pot with a slotted spoon. Serve with more Parmesan or with a sauce of your choice.

I served these with eggplant parmesan--YUM!

I've also seen them fried in butter--I want to try that too.