'Nduja gnocchi with whipped ricotta and hot honey
Spreadable Calabrian chili sausage melts into its own sauce, over cool ricotta, hot honey on top.
At a Glance
Story
'Nduja is a soft spreadable salami from Calabria, pork whipped with a heavy hand of roasted chilies until it spreads like pâté. Warm it in a pan and it does what most cured meat won't. It melts, collapsing into a slick of spiced red fat that coats every piece of gnocchi like a sauce you never had to make. The ricotta cools it and the hot honey pulls it sweet, so each bite lands salty, then creamy, then a slow burn.
Ingredients
- 1 × 16 oz package shelf-stable potato gnocchi16 to 17 oz
- 3 oz 'ndujacasing removed if it has one
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
- 2 tbsp hot honeyplus more for drizzling
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ lemonzest and juice
- a big handful of basiltorn
- flaky salt
Method
Barely a recipe, which is the point. Four things do all the work, so buy good ricotta and good 'nduja and stay out of their way.
- Whip the ricotta with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the lemon zest and a pinch of salt until loose and spreadable. Spread it across the base of a platter.
- Heat the last tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium high. Add the gnocchi, breaking up any stuck together, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, tossing every 2, until golden and crisp.
- Turn the heat to medium and push the gnocchi to one side. Add the 'nduja and press it into the hot pan until it melts into a loose red oil, about a minute, then toss the gnocchi through so every one is coated.
- Pile the gnocchi onto the ricotta. Drizzle with more hot honey, squeeze the lemon over, then tear the basil across the top and finish with flaky salt.
For a crowd
Whip a triple batch of the ricotta and spread it over a couple of platters. Crisp three packages of gnocchi across two large sheet pans tossed with oil, roasting at 450°F for 20 to 25 minutes until deep golden, then melt the 'nduja with a splash of the hot pan oil in a skillet and toss the gnocchi through in batches. Pile onto the ricotta, drizzle the honey and tear the basil over just before it goes out.
Gnocchi series
Crisp the gnocchi hard, then pile a dinner you already know on top. It improves nearly everything.
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