Gnocchi di ricotta e salsa di gorgonzola

Ricotta and nutmeg dumplings with gorgonzola sauce - sounds better in Italian doesn't it?

The Doc gave me a copy of Ursula Ferrigno's 'Complete Italian Cookery Course' for Christmas. On my first glance through these jumped out at me but I took a while to make them as I was wondering what to serve them with. In the end I decided a simple lemon roast chicken would be best - the gorgonzola is such a strong flavour I didn't want it to be overwhelmed. It was the right decision, although the dumplings themselves are quite light the sauce is rich and you will only eat a few.

The original recipe is for 6, I halved it but mine was still to sloppy to be called a paste and I ended up adding twice as much semolina flour in order to make it possible to roll out. I suspect the reason for this is something to do with the difference between supermarket pre-packed ricotta and that available in Italy.

Dunplings:
250g ricotta
1 tbsp grated parmesan
2 medium egg yolks
5 tbsp semolina flour
fresh ground nutmeg - a pinch
salt and pepper

• Mash all ingrediants together to form a paste
• Roll into a log 1cm thick
• Cut into 2cm pieces
• Place in a pan of boiling water - after about 2 mins they should rise to the surface
• Gice them another 30 seconds in the pan then remove and drain

Sauce:
10g unsalted butter
2 tbsp cream
100g gorgonzola, mashed

• Melt together butter and cream
• Add cheese and blend well

Place dumplings in an ovenproof dish, pour over the sauce and bake for 15-20 mins at 180 degrees.