This Gluten Free Gnudi Recipe was one of our favorites that we learned at Jovial’s Culinary Getaway in Lucca, Italy! We are so excited to share with you this recipe and our magical foodie adventure that will forever be cherished.

So, what’s gnudi?

Meg and I were able to film GNUDI with Carla Bartolucci, the founder of Jovial Foods. Gnudi is one of her family’s favorite traditional Italian recipes. We thought, what the heck is a gnudi? We hadn’t ever heard of it before, so it was exciting to make something new. Gnudi is a cloud like dumpling similar to the tasty innards of ravioli and the texture of gnocchi. Its boiled in water and then eaten in a light herb sauce. Gnudies make a yummy appetizer, side or main dish. Megs and I are super excited for you to try this inside out pasta dish!

Watch our newest video below and keep on scrolling for the full gnudi recipe and all the fun pictures and antidotes from our trip.

https://youtu.be/F6O1qX_4ORk

Jovial’s Culinary Getaway

Jovial’s Culinary Getaway is specific for gluten free and celiacs of all ages! Just outside of Lucca is the magnificent Italian Villa Boccella with it’s gorgeous grounds, beautiful accommodations, and loving hosts. We squealed with joy and pinched ourselves daily. It was pleasantly surprising for us to discover how easy it was to eat gluten free all throughout Italy and found Italians to be extremely accommodating and sensitive to those with Celiac disease or gluten intolerance. We also found many gluten-free choices in restaurants, gelaterias, even gluten free specific pastry shops!

itallian villa entrance with trees — Villa entrance.

view of italy countryside with fence and trees — A room with a view

Great news is that you too can attend these culinary adventures! Take your BFF, your life partner, your mom, daughter, son, anyone who loves to eat and travel to far away places. You feel so taken care of, you forget that you even have a digestive disorder. It is truly an over the top delicious experience we highly recommended! Not gluten free, Jovial has getaways for you too.

The Chef

Meg and I thoroughly enjoyed all the gluten free cooking classes taught by Carla. She is a beautiful soft spoken passionate mom, business woman and chef who teaches from her heart and soul. You just want to hang out with her in the kitchen all day long, learning, prepping, cooking and taking in all her knowledge and seasonal foodie tips. We were able to do just that when we weren’t out and about exploring.

carla cooking tomatoes in kitchen — Carla making her marinara sauce.

women in kitchen cooking together — Making sure we documented it all!!!

Lucca is a beautiful and charming walled city about a 15 minute drive from the villa. We meandered through small cobblestone streets and ate delicious gluten free meals when not at the villa. Every where we went people were genuinely warm, friendly and helpful.

megs and pegs outside in italy — Lucca, Italy

It was great to have days off where there was so much to do and see. So off we went with with our fellow students visiting the surrounding country sides, villages meeting cheese makers, blacksmiths and driving up high mountain tops to insane towns. And yes, we shopped, unbelievable shopping! It’s everything you might imagine only more, right out of a movie set!

megan sitting on stone ledge with view of italian countryside in background — On one of our free days we visited Barga

people from cooking class smiling for camera — Barga!

megs and pegs in Volterra — Volterra is an awesome village high up in Tuscany.

laundry hung outside in small village — Streets of Volterra. Pegs LOVED the laundry everywhere we went.

woman making cheese in italy — Cheese making in Vitiana~comune di coreglia. Fantastic local artisan tours from Sapori & Saperi

pecorino romano cheese wheels on shelves — Pecorino Romano wheels.

blacksmith standing i front of fire — Meet our 80+ year young passionate blacksmith. Making tools for home and garden the old fashioned way passed down for generations in his family for the last 500 years! Awesome tours Sapori & Saperi

camping knife on pile of old tools — Megs new camping knife!

mincing knife with wooden handles — Pegs Messaluna mincing knife!

We learned how to bake from scratch bread, pasta and baked goodies. It was a good thing we were coming home to one of our cleanse workshops! We both felt like little kids getting to eat everything without the worries or “no, sorry you cant eat that”.

megs and pegs making fresh pasta — Pasta making 101

freshy cooked sourdough bread on cooling rack — Gluten free sourdough bread making! Crunchy on the outside, moist and flavorful on the inside.

people in cooking class laughing — Making the best ever hamburger buns!

women in aprons holding freshly baked chocolate cake — Winners of the pastry bake-off!!! Pegs, Maggie and Alyssa’s Chocolate Cake!

freshly made Rugelach on plate with leaves and lemon — Meg’s group made amazing Rugelach!

chocolate cake with pink and white flower wreath — The winner~chocolate cake!

everyone from the jovial cooking class in kitchen smiling for camera — Our Jovial family=Love

Making anything from scratch can be completely intimidating, especially gluten free pasta and bread. But we learned its not that difficult given the right ingredients and direction. It just takes a little practice and patience. However, if it still feels a bit much, Jovial makes hands down, the best gluten free packaged Italian pastas. Curry Girls has lots of wonderful recipes using their pastas. Some of our family favorite recipes include: green pesto pasta, spinach manicotti , Shrimp Alfredo or noodle kugle ~ all great for the holidays or anytime of the year! Jovial also posts delicious seasonal recipes that are simple with few ingredients, as we learned, it’s the “Italian way”. Try Jovial’s roasted cauliflower spaghetti recipe, or click HERE for more recipes.

Jovial’s Gluten Free Gnudi

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Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 pound (225 g) Swiss chard, spinach or your favorite leafy greens (thick stems removed)

1/2 cup (125 g) whole milk ricotta cheese or dairy free options (Kite Hill Vegan dairy free ricotta)

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

Pinch of fresh ground nutmeg

3/4 cup (50 g) Parmigiano Reggiano grated cheese or Pecorino Romano (sheep) or Vegan Parma

1 large egg (55 g)

Up to 1/2 cup (60 g) jovial No.1 Gluten Free Bread Flour

1 small bunch of sage leaves

1 stick of unsalted butter or goat butter or dairy free butter alternative

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Instructions

Remove the stem from the Swiss chard and boil in unsalted water until soft, about 7 minutes. Chop fine. Once cooled, squeeze excess water from the greens.
Drain ricotta in a colander and gently press out any excess liquid.
In a medium bowl, combine the greens, ricotta, Parmigiano, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Make a well in the center of the mixture, add the egg and beat well until the yolk and white are combined. Mix the egg into the mixture until incorporated.
Add the flour, ¼ cup (30 g) at a time, until the mixture holds together but is still wet and sticky, not dry.
Roll pieces into an oval shape about the size of a small meatball. Lightly roll in flour and place on a sheet pan until ready to cook.
Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil, add 1 tablespoon of sea salt or to taste. Drop in the gnudi one by one, bring the water back to a rolling boil and check for doneness after 3-4 minutes.
The cooking time will depend on how big you have rolled the gnudi out.
You may need extra flour in the dough if you didn’t press as much moisture out of the greens. Add just enough flour so that you can form them without having them stick to your hands.
For a batch of gnudi for 4, you will simmer 10 fresh sage leaves with one stick of unsalted butter, a large pinch of salt, in a large skillet until the butter starts to bubble, but do not brown the butter.
Gently toss the gnudi in the butter and serve.