The Food Maven Diary
[Archives]

[Previous Entry] [Diary Home] [Next Entry]

09/19/2000 Archived Entry: "Ravioli Nudi"

My WOR group stops in Livorno today, but most everyone will be going to Florence for the day, an excursion that has been included in the cost of the trip. I'm staying in Livorno because I have never had the opportunity to explore it before. Kyle Phillips, the "guide" of www.italianfood.about.com is meeting me. We are supposed to have cacciucco for lunch, which is the city's famous fish stew, and we are also going to see if we can find some of the city's Jewish food. The Jewish community here is still quite large (for Italy, that is) and the modern synagogue is apparently very impressive. The old synagogue was bombed and destroyed by the Allies during World War II. This is all according to a story I just read in a magazine called Italy Italy (www.italyitalymagazine.com ).

The following recipe is one that I supplied to the chef on the Radisson Diamond, so he could serve it to use tonight for dinner. These are not really ravioli, but a ricotta and spinach mixture that might be the filling for ravioli. What they really are is gnocchi, but in typical Italian style, they are given the fanciful name "nude ravioli."

Tonight, the ship will also offer us the Tuscan specialty called Gran Farro, the thick soup made with beans and farro, which is a primitive form of wheat, very much like, if not exactly like spelt. (It's a controversial subject.) You can buy whole spelt in a health food for much less than you can usually buy farro in fancy food stores, so I always use spelt.. The whole wheat berries are cooked in the soup, a recipe for which you can find in my book Soup Suppers, along with a lighter farro soup recipe that may appeal to you more.

Ravioli Nudi
(Gnocchi di Ricotta)

Serves about 8

These are a type of spinach gnocchi or dumpling made without a flour or potato dough or any starch for that matter except a light coating of flour. Eggs and cheese are what binds the spinach, which is seasoned with a noticeable dose of nutmeg. In the U.S., dishes with spinach are often called alla Fiorentina, in the Florentine style, but, in fact, that nomenclature comes from the French. This spinach dish, for instance, is not exclusively Florentine. Such dumplings are made elsewhere in Italy. In Florence, they are nicknamed ravioli nudi because the mixture might well be the filling for pasta dough. In Venice, however, the same mixture is called malfatti, which means "badly made" and perhaps refers to "badly made" ravioli, or maybe to the Venetian version's often irregular shape. (Malfatti can also be odd-shaped pasta.)

3 pounds fresh spinach
Salt
1 15-ounce container ricotta
6 large egg yolks
2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Flour
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) sweet butter, melted
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Wash the spinach very well. Do not dry. Pull off the heavy stems.

2. Put the cleaned spinach in at least 5 quarts of lightly salted, boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes from the time the spinach goes in the water. Drain well in a colander, then let cool.

3. Taking the spinach by fistfuls, squeeze out as much water as possible. This step is very important.

4. Place the spinach on a board and, using a large cook's knife, chop the spinach very fine.

5. Place the chopped spinach in a mixing bowl and add the ricotta, egg yolks, 2 cups of the Parmigiano, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Mix together very well, until totally homogenous.

6. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.

7. Meanwhile, put a good layer of flour on a dinner plate. Using a tablespoon measure to gauge the dumplings, make round balls with the ricotta mixture. At this point make only one for a test. Roll the ball between the palms of your hands, making compact balls. Then roll the ball in the flour to coat well.

8. When the water is boiling, salt it lightly, then drop the test ball in the water. It should retain its shape and rise to the top, cooked, after a minute or two. If it falls apart, the spinach or the ricotta was too moist and you will have to add a little flour to your dumpling mixture. If necessary, add a few tablespoons of flour, then test another ball. This is also the time to taste the test ball and make sure you have seasoned the mixture to your taste. When you have a mixture that tastes and cooks as it should, continue forming the balls. Boil them several at a time: the point is that the water should never stop boiling. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon, and place the cooked dumplings in a baking dish that will hold them in one layer.

9. When all the dumplings are in the baking dish, pour over the melted butter and roll them in the butter. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano. They can be prepared ahead to this point. Keep refrigerated if not baking them within a couple of hours. If chilled, remove them from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before heating them in the oven.

10. To finish the ravioli nudi, place them in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated through.