Chef Douglass Williams of MIDA in Boston's South End neighborhood shares his recipe for rich, savory gnudi. Italian for “naked,” gnudi is essentially the naked center of ravioli without the pasta that surrounds it — creating a pillowy texture that is as light in texture as it is rich in taste. Enjoy!

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

Gnudi

  • 4 cups cows milk ricotta
  • 1 tsp grated/ground nutmeg
  • 2 Whole eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 cup grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup AP flour Sauce
  • 2 cups mushrooms of your liking, cleaned
  • 1 cup EVOO
  • 2 pinches salt
  • 1 lemon (zest and juice)
  • 1 handful of fresh Herbs such as dill, mint, chives or parsley, roughly chopped (to use at the end of the recipe)

Garnish

  • Pistachios, toasted at 300F in the oven for 10 minutes and crushed with the bottom of a pan
  • Pecorino shaved with a common household peeler

Tools

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Large spoon
  • Peeler
  • Medium pot
  • Large pot
  • Large sauté pan
  • Slotted spoon (for draining mushrooms of oil)

Directions:

Start by poaching the mushrooms in olive oil. It imparts an incredible flavor, ensures proper cooking and preserves the mushroom all at the same time. In an appropriately sized medium pot, about 6-7 inches wide, take the mushrooms and “rip” them into bite-sized pieces. Add the mushrooms and 2 pinches of salt to the pot and pour over the EVOO. Place the pot on medium heat and in about 2 minutes you will see little bubbles rise from the oil. Immediately turn to low heat for 10 minutes. Once 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off heat and leave mushrooms in the pot and set aside.

For the gnudi, place a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a simmer in preparation of cooking the gnudi. Salt lightly. To make the gnudi, first place ricotta, eggs, ground nutmeg, salt pepper and parm/pec into the bowl and mix with a fork till homogenous, but not so much that the curds of the cheese have disappeared, about 1 minute. Then you add the flour over top of the ricotta mixture. Use the fork to “cut” in the flour to the cheese mixture. Once the flour is incorporated, check the bottom of the mixture for flour that may have settled to the bottom. Dough should be slightly moist, yet manageable, and barely sticky. Keep in bowl and put aside.

To complete the dish, add a large spoon full of gnudi mixture (a tad larger than an egg in its shell) carefully into the simmering water. You'll make 16 gnudi, in two batches, 8 at a time. You will notice the gnudi sink to the bottom at first but as it begins to cook, it will slowly rise to the surface. Once the gnudi reaches the surface of the water, they are done; feel free to let them float at the top for no more than two minutes for extra cooking if you'd like. With a slotted spoon, you can transfer the cooked gnudi to a serving plate.

To complete the dish, drain off 90% of the oil from the mushrooms. (You can reserve this beautifully flavored oil for another time, or add back to the mixture to change consistency, if desired.)

To the remaining oil and mushrooms, add the crushed pistachios, any soft herbs you'd like, a good handful (dill, mint, chives, parsley) and zest of one lemon. Once zested, cut the lemon open and squeeze the entirety of the juice over the mushroom mixture. Stir with a small spoon, scoop the mushroom mixture from the little pot over top of the gnudi.

To finish, use a peeler or microplane to shave cheese over top of the gnudi, garnished with the pistachi mixture.