Baked spinach & ricotta gnudi
in roast tomato eggplant sauce
Gnudi: Tuscan dumplings, akin to extra large ricotta gnocchi without the shaping and boiling steps. It often takes people aback when you say it, like they might have just heard you suggest nudes of some variety (gnudi does literally mean naked in Italian). The name apparently comes from the fact that they are similar to ravioli filling, only disrobed without their surrounding pasta. The term gnudi is more commonly used in areas near Florence, whereas they are also known as malfatti (meaning badly made) in Siena. This version were born of a day during COVID isolation when a friend dropped off a care package including ricotta, cherry tomatoes and a sourdough baguette (a friend that knew me well, clearly). True comfort food in a bubbling dish, and much easier than either ravioli or gnocchi - less potential for mishap.
These baked gnudi are soft and pillowy, reliant on good ricotta combined with wrung out spinach, lemon and parmesan then nestled in a simple roast cherry tomato and eggplant sauce and baked for half an hour. They can be prepped ahead right up until the baking step if you’re short on time later (just keep covered in the fridge in the baking dish). It’s the sort of meal where you end up having done all the dishes by the time you’re ready to serve it straight from the oven, ideal for both weeknights and easy entertaining.
This month
Currently cooking
Brown butter passionfruit meringue bars: for whenever passionfruit are in abundance - a layer of crisp buttery biscuit, barely set passionfruit curd and piles of whipped meringue, blow torched at the edges.
Figs in everything - they’ve just arrived back on the shelves and so far grilled figs, ricotta and honeycomb on fresh rocket or sourdough and this molten fig and dark chocolate pudding have been the favourites.
Ottolenghi’s hot tomatoes on cold yogurt, on repeat. An enduring favourite at this time of year: the best cherry tomatoes flash roasted in olive oil, garlic, thyme and oregano on a bed of cool lemony yogurt, best served scooped up with fresh bread.
Currently consuming:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: the 2006 dystopian novel (shortlisted for the Booker) where parent-less children grow up under the careful eyes of guardians for purposes that become gradually and sickeningly clearer as the book progresses. It pushes the envelope of what our current medical technology might allow (in the wrong hands), made more realistic by the very human friendships it also portrays.
Euphoria season 2: the TV show we haven’t been able to tear our eyes away from, as brutal as it is - following the stories of a group of teenagers whose lives are being torn apart by drug addiction, sex and violence. Full of oversaturated dream sequences, train-wreck relationships and loud parties, it’s somehow addictive in its messiness.
Starstruck season 2: the second season of this rom-com mini-series by NZ comedian Rose Matafeo - just as awkwardly funny and realistic as the first. The six half hour long episodes could just as easily be watched in one sitting.