Jamie Oliver recommends Georgina Hayden's Basil Gnudi

These are basically very green and fragrant and buttery dumplings. My sister made the ones you see in the photo. I'm assuming these little green dumplings are pronounced "nudey", something which should induce much hilarity if you happen to serve them to a bunch of six-year olds. 

Looks like my sister used garlic with the butter and lemon ...not an ingredient in the recipe, but no doubt a tasty addition.

Ingredients:

large bunches of basil , leaves picked

250 g fresh ricotta                                 

125 g parmesan , finely grated

2 large free-range eggs (or regular eggs) 

1 free-range egg yolk (or regular egg yolk) 

75 g plain flour , plus a little extra

Semolina flour , for dusting

15 g butter

1 unwaxed lemon

30 g grated pecorino , to serve

If not serving a crowd, feel free to freeze what you don't need.

Instructions:

Wilt 2/3rds of the basil leaves in a pan of water over a low heat. Squeeze out the excess water.

Place the leaves in a blender with 75g of the ricotta and purée. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl along with the remaining ricotta, the parmesan and eggs, and whisk vigorously, until light and airy.

Fold the flour into the ricotta mixture, adding a little more if it’s too sticky. It needs to be both soft and moist.

Flour a baking tray using semolina (if you have it), and fill a piping bag with the ricotta mixture, cutting a 1.5cm opening. Pipe long strips of the gnudi mixture down the tray, about 1.5cm apart.

Flour the strips with another thick layer of semolina flour, then cut them into 2–3cm pieces. Cover the tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to cook the gnudi, remove the tray from the fridge and let it to come to room temperature.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan over a low heat and add most of the reserved basil leaves. Cook for 1–2 minutes, until the butter starts to bubble and the leaves have crisped up. Finely grate in the zest of the lemon and season well. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil over a medium heat and gently lower the gnudi into the pan with a slotted spoon. Once they float to the surface, they’re cooked – this should take about 1 minute.

Remove them with a slotted spoon and gently toss them in the lemon butter. Serve with grated pecorino and the rest of the basil leaves on top.