Recipe/ Vegetarian

Scratch Ricotta Gnudi with Fresh Fava Beans

Good morning lovelies!
 
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Funny word: burpee.
 
…I promise this is related to the title recipe…
 
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It was doing one of these a couple weeks ago that I managed to pop a bone out of place in my wrist and give myself tendonitis.
 
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Something I haven’t really mentioned to you is that I am working on getting more fit. I’ve been feeling sluggish, heavy, and generally poo-poo about my physical self lately so instead of whining that I can’t fit into my old jeans – read: any pants that I own – I decided to do something about it. 
 
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I started doing vinyasa yoga and working out to Jillian Michaels who is scary as shit but super funny and ripped and beautiful and wicked. I’ve also modified my diet slightly to ensure stellar weight loss and muscle tonage… And you know what? It’s been working. 
 
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Or it was working, anyhow. Right up until I decided to do a face plant in the living room while doing a burpee. What? You don’t know what a burpee is? Look here.
 
Apparently I have zero hand, eye, foot, life coordination and as my arms were stretched right up in the air, while trying to be graceful and fluid, I kicked my legs back and essentially fell from 4 feet. I caught myself in a plank position (think kind of like a pushup) and thought I was pretty rad for not smashing my face into the hardwood floor… Until a couple days later and my wrist started to swell and become extremely painful.
 
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After a trip to the doctor, I ended up this past Friday at a physiotherapy office only to find out I had jammed my wrist and elbow right out of a socket and flared up all the tendons. Oops. And as things seemed to get only worse and worse, ended up getting an X-ray to see if the area is fractured. No results yet.
 
They always say you should check with your doctor about starting a new fitness program – I think that’s sound advice, given my current predicament. Oh yeah, and don’t fall from four feet. Dummy.
 
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Another funny word: Gnudi. 
 
…see I told you it was related.. kind of.
 
Ricotta gnudi is wonderful. It’s like gnocchi but with ricotta cheese instead of potato and it has the exact properties of everything I love to eat – it’s rich, savory, cheewy, soft, and best of all, cheesy.
 
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While we were at the Moss Street Market this past weekend, I stumbled – and let’s be honest, knowing my balance and coordination (as mentioned above), I did really stumble – upon fresh fava beans. I thought these little Spring treats would be long gone as the Summer months have been getting hotter and hotter but alas! there they were. Fresh, at one stand, and ripe for the picking. 
 
I quickly gathered up as many as my arms could hold and asked John to pay the man. And holy hell in a bucket – I am so glad he did. Fresh fava beans (aka broad beans) are simple enough to prepare but they are a lot of work. Kind of like exercise – it’s not a ton of fun to do at the time, but it’s so worth it in the end. 
 
And this time, paired up with some from scratch ricotta gnudi and fresh tomato sauce – I was a happy, happy lady.
 
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Scratch Ricotta Gnudi with Fresh Fava Beans

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 4 Lb Fresh Fava Beans (in their pods).
  • 2 28 Oz. Cans of Diced Tomatoes or a few Lbs of Fresh Tomatoes, roughly chopped.
  • 1 Large Carrot, finely chopped.
  • 1 Onion, diced.
  • 1 Large Stick of Celery, chopped.
  • 3 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped.
  • Handful of Fresh Italian Herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, sage, parsley etc...), roughly torn or 1 Tbsp dried.
  • 1/2 C Dry White Wine.
  • 1 Lb (approx 1 C?) Fresh Ricotta Cheese, drained in a fine sieve for at least 30 minutes.
  • 3/4 C Flour + Extra for dusting.
  • 2 Large Pastured Eggs.
  • Handful of Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese.
  • Pinch of Nutmeg.
  • Sea Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste.
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Butter.

Instructions

  1. Begin by making your tomato sauce - click here for instructions on how to do this.Next, whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy. Add the ricotta and mix well. Now add the flour, parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper, combine, and then cover and allow dough to chill at least 1 hour.As that chills, prepare the fava beans. This does take a bit of time but it's very easy. Snap off the top end of the bean and gently peel off the seam (like peas). Then gently wiggle your fingers inside to open the pod. Pop out the beans and discard the shells to the compost.
  2. Now here's the time consuming part: the beans are tricky and have a second shell. You'll need to bring a large pot of water to a boil, dump the beans in, boil for about 30 seconds to loosen the second casing and then immediately drain and run cold water over the beans to stop the cooking process and maintain the brilliant green color. Now you can carefully made a tear in the outer coating near the "bum" of the bean (when you see them you'll know what I mean) and just gently pinch the bean out of it's casing. Tada! Bright green broad beans! Again, discard the shell. Set beautiful beans aside.
  3. Once the dough is chilled, remove from the fridge and pour some flour into a bowl or rimmed baking sheet. Gently toss a 1-2" ball or log of dough in the flour to coat, shaking off the excess. As you do this, bring a pot of salted water to a low boil.
  4. Once the dough is tossed in the flour and the water is gently boiling, carefully place a slotted spoonful or two of balls into the water. Allow to simmer 3 to 4 minutes or until balls float to the top of the water. Remove with the slotted spoon and place on a plate to drain.
  5. Heat the olive oil or melt the butter over medium heat. Once hot, toss in the prepared fava beans along with the boiled gnudi and saute for a few minutes on each side until heated through.
  6. Serve with some fresh tomato sauce.
  7. Eat.
Please tell me your most embarrassing stories! My ego needs a boost… stupid burpees.
  • Sam
    July 23, 2012 at 3:47 PM

    So, this one time I was swiping my metrocard at one of those “cheese grater” (they’re like revolving gates at entrances where there isn’t a booth so people can’t jump the turnstile) entryways on the subway. I swiped my card, thought it went through. Pushed the gate hard, the gate at this particular station tends to stick. Well, my card hadn’t gone through and I managed to bang the entire right side of my face on the gate. I had a bruised and slightly bloody upper lip. And had to explain it when I went to work the next morning.

    Feel better?

    Also, LOVE the recipe. I saw fava beans at the market around here this week too. They must be late this year.

    • Kristy Lynn
      July 31, 2012 at 3:07 PM

      BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA i love you.

  • Heather
    July 23, 2012 at 9:15 PM

    Great recipe! I was hoping to run into you at the market this weekend!

    Once…while doing burpees someone told me to go faster and I did a bellyflop onto the ground….it wasn’t pretty.

    Let’s do burpees together soon…or um…..something safer:)

    • Kristy Lynn
      July 31, 2012 at 3:08 PM

      …we should run into each other more often.

  • Peggy G.
    July 24, 2012 at 5:48 PM

    Oh dear girl! I hope your wrist is healing nicely! I’m trying to get back into shape, myself! Although I’m not losing any weight, just maintaining for some reason – I bet it’s all the muscle I’m gaining – it weighs more after all =) Right.

    This gnudi looks fabulous, as does everything! Hope all is well lovely!

    • Kristy Lynn
      July 31, 2012 at 3:08 PM

      that’s what i keep telling myself as well.

  • luckiest1
    July 24, 2012 at 7:00 PM

    Oh you lucky girl, you found fresh fava beans! So far no luck for me, so I’ve been using the frozen ones. Actually, they sound a little easier, because all you have to do is defrost them and peel off the inner skin. But your recipe looks fabulous! Now I’m hungry again.

    Clumsy? Well, I’m clumsy too. Last winter I fell flat on my back, not once or twice, but five freaking times, while walking my dogs. Ok, so it was icy those days. I’m lucky I didn’t get a concussion. After that, I went out and bought those rubber spiky things you put on the bottom of your shoes/boots. You know, like old people do. :p

    I’m also very clumsy with knives. At least, I used to be. Once, I managed to cut the tendon in my baby finger while cutting a frozen chocolate Easter bunny in half…what, it was for the kids! More recently, I took the tip of my middle finger off with a mandolin. It was brand new and I threw it straight into the garbage. Now, I can’t even watch a cooking show where someone uses a mandolin…makes me sick to my stomach. However, Jamie has taught me proper knife skills! 😉

    I couldn’t do a burpee if I tried. Hope your wrist feels better soon!

    • Kristy Lynn
      July 31, 2012 at 3:09 PM

      old people are very wise… says something about you 🙂

      p.s. safe guards on a mandolin are to sharp blades as spikes are to snow shoes.. 😉

  • Lindsey at NW Backyard Veggies
    July 24, 2012 at 9:36 PM

    Dude, I once fractured my ankle by stepping off a CURB.

    I like to think that we are just too smart and intelligent – that our minds are racing too far ahead with all the kick ass stuff we are going to do – that we simply don’t have time for the irritating task of body coordination.

    Off a CURB.

    I’m still getting razzed for that.

    An old lady in a WALKER had to help me out of the street, for fuckssake.

    Fava beans, huh? I’d eat your gnudi with some fava beans and a nice bottle of chianti. (hee hee hee)

    • Kristy Lynn
      July 31, 2012 at 3:11 PM

      it really is because of our superb intelligence. i’m sure of it.

      (put the lotion in the basket)….

  • Courtney J
    July 25, 2012 at 2:33 PM

    You sound like me! I’ve broken bones tripping over my own feet. *haha*

    I hope you are feeling better. And I’m so impressed and proud of you for making the decision to work on your health to feel better. I’ve been feeling crummy lately too and just keep feeling down about it. I need to just start doing something about it and stop wishing the days away.

    This dish looks AWESOME. Yum! 🙂

    • Kristy Lynn
      July 31, 2012 at 3:11 PM

      true that, yo. do it. 🙂

  • April @ The 21st Century Housewife
    July 29, 2012 at 7:27 PM

    You poor thing! I can’t do burpees either. As for most embarrassing injury…an undefinable elbow injury from yoga! Basically I was trying to do a seated bind with assistance from the instructor and something just went. My arm hurt like crap, and no one could figure out exactly what I had done. It hurt for months, and then finally about two months ago it just stopped. Weird. I’m just glad it’s gone. Now about this gorgeous Ricotta Gnudi with Fresh Fava Beans – wow! What a wonderful dish. I love how wholesome your recipe is, as well as the flavours (garlic, herbs, and especially the nutmeg) you have used. Not to mention how beautiful it all looks on the plate!

    • Kristy Lynn
      July 31, 2012 at 3:12 PM

      yoga can feel really good and do wondrous things for us… but sometimes i just think “are we really meant to bend that way?”…

  • Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe
    August 2, 2012 at 5:02 PM

    I am laughing out loud as I picture the burpee scene. I’ve always hated those damn burpees. But more importantly, can you please come and be my live-in chef? Seriously. These gnudi look insanely divine.

    • Kristy Lynn
      August 3, 2012 at 5:02 PM

      stupid burpees. haha. and yes, yes i will 🙂 only so long as you’ll have afternoon wine time with me though because you’re kind of super rad.