Name: Spinach & Mushroom Gnudi in a chili tomato sauce
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Bake
Ingredients: 500 g ricotta cheese; spinach; mushrooms; 10 cloves garlic finely chopped; olive oil for frying; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 3 Tbs flour spoons; nutmeg; rosa tomatoes; tinned tomatoes purèed; onion finely chopped; 6 cloves garlic cloves, finely chopped; chillies finely chopped; stock cube chicken; freshly ground black pepper; fresh basil chopped

Recipe Disclaimer

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Ingredients (16)

For the Gnudi you will need:

500 g	ricotta cheese
	spinach
	mushrooms
10 cloves	garlic — finely chopped
	olive oil — for frying
	salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbs	flour — spoons
	nutmeg

Cherry Tomato & Chilli Sauce:

	rosa tomatoes
	tinned tomatoes — purèed
	onion — finely chopped
6 cloves	garlic — cloves, finely chopped
	chillies — finely chopped
	stock cube — chicken
	freshly ground black pepper
	fresh basil — chopped

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Method:

For the Gnudi you will need:
In a frying pan – lightly fry some garlic – salt and pepper (use the ready ground powder NOT cracked pepper)
add the baby spinach and fry until all the water has evapourated.
In the same pan – fry the finely chopped mushrooms in garlic and salt and pepper (powder) until the water has evapourated and they are slightly caramelised.
Set asided and allow to cool.
In a bowl – mash up the ricotta with a fork and add the grated nutmeg – about 1/4 of a teaspoon, then add the cooled spinach and mushrooms, the flour and salt and pepper to taste.
Taste a little of your mixture to check for the seasoning.

If your ricotta is very wet – you can drain it in a piece of kitchen cloth.
The flour is to bind the mixture – so 3 – 4 tlb spoons should be enough.

Ingredients for the Cherry Tomato & Chilli Sauce:

In a pan – fry the garlic, chilli & onion in olive oil till lightly browned add the salt – pepper – cherry tomatoes and liquidised peeled tomatoes (or you could use passata) and cook. When the sauce is ready – about 20 minutes add the fresh basil

To assemble the Gnudi:
Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC
In an oven proof dish place a few spoons of the tomato on to the bottom of the dish to prevent the gnudi from sticking.

With clean hands – pour a little olive oil over your hands to prevent the mixture from sticking and make egg sized balls of the mixture and place them in the oven proof dish. Once the dish is full – pour over the rest of the tomatoe sauce and cover with a good grating of parmesan cheese and bake @ 180ºC for about 20 minutes until the top is nicely browned.