'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.
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