Wednesday 17 April 2013

Ndundari (Ricotta Dumplings) with Tomato Sauce





Most of you will have tried or a least heard of gnocchi, the Italian potato dumpling eaten all over northern Italy. But did you know that there is a southern Italian variation using ricotta instead of potatoes, to make a lighter gnocchi dumpling.

I made my own ricotta, as unfortunately in the UK it's not easy to get hold of good quality ricotta, but making your own ricotta is really easy, see my other blog post for just how easy.

Ndundari is the Italian name for small ricotta dumplings made around the Amalfi region of Italy where in harder times poverty was region-wide and people survived on what they had to hand. They are very simple to make, as you will see from the recipe taste wonderfully light and are delicious with a fresh tomato sauce with the added heat of fresh chilli.

For Ndundari

200g "00" flour, plus extra for flouring
220g ricotta
3 egg yolks
30g Parmesan,grated
pinch of grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

For Sauce

2 tins plum tomatoes
few basil leaves
olive oil
3 garlic cloves, cut into thick slices
1 red chilli, chopped
 
In a bowl, mix the flour, ricotta, egg yolks, parmesan, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper together to form a soft, moist dough.

Place on a floured board and knead for five minutes.

Cut your dough ball into four then roll each piece of dough into a long, thin sausage shape and then cut it at right angles into rectangular shapes about 2cm long.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Once boiling add a good pince of salt and then add the dumplings. They will rise to the surface again, then lower the heat and simmer for a further 2 minutes.

To make your sauce. Place the tomatoes and basil in a bowl, mush up the tomatoes to a chunky texture, season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and chilli, add the tomato mixture and warm through until the mixture is bubbling.

Drain the Ndundari with a slotted spoon and add to the tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly and serve immediately topped with grated Parmesan.

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