Gnudi w Sausage, Garlic Scapes and Greens

And a vegetarian alternative

At this time of the year I am always looking for ways to use the plethora of green things that are so abundant in late spring. When I buy beets or radishes or my favorite little hakurei turnips from the market, they come with all their beautiful greens attached. These are perfect for cooking, still sweet and tender enough to be used much like you would spinach or chard. Remove them from the root and wash them really well, they tend to carry a lot of grit. I find soaking them in a large bowl of water before draining and repeating a couple of times is the most effective way to remove it all.

This dish is really good, a little decadent, but also full of those lovely green vegetables. It uses plenty of greens such as those mentioned above but also garlic scapes, the shoot that garlic sends out to become a flower, harvested before they bloom. They have a mild garlicky flavour and when they are fresh, a firm crunch that is able to hold up to roasting and higher heat as well as long slow cooking. They soften nicely when cooked but retain their shape and character. If you don’t have garlic scapes available, sub 3 cloves of garlic, smashed with the side of your knife and roughly chopped.

It is worth making a double or triple batch of gnudi so that that you can have it in the freezer, whenever you have an inkling for something that feels a bit fancy. That said, you can make this with pasta also, in which case you may want to add an extra sausage if you have one, and grate over a tiny bit of nutmeg as you are cooking. I have also included a vegetarian variation at the bottom of the recipe.