Ricotta dumplings with lemon and saffron sauce, caramelized prosciutto and roasted tomatoes

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 250 g ricotta
• 1 egg(s)
• 45 g wheat semolina (alternatively corn semolina)
• 45 g wheat flour
• ⅛ lemon(s), zest and juice
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• Salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• 25 g butter, room temperature
• ¼ lemon(s), juice
• 1 pinch(s) of saffron (approx. 0.1 g)
• 150 ml cream
• salt and pepper
• 8 slices of ham (prosciutto)
• vanilla sugar
• Pepper or chili fresh from the mill
• olive oil
• 125 g cherry tomatoes
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• e.g. Parmesan, Pecorino or other cheese, freshly grated (for vegetarian version: cheese without animal rennet!)
• smoked salt (for the vegetarian option)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours 10 minutes

a variation of the Italian “Gnudi” – vegetarian version

For the dumpling dough, mix the ricotta with the egg, lemon juice, and a little lemon zest, then fold in the semolina and flour, add the nutmeg and about 1 teaspoon of salt; the mixture should have a good salty taste, and stir until smooth. Chill for 2-3 hours to allow the semolina to thicken and the mixture to gain substance. (You can use curd cheese instead of ricotta; in this case, you may want to omit the lemon juice, as the curd cheese already has a bit of acidity.) For the sauce, mix the butter with the lemon juice and the saffron. The amount of lemon juice is a guideline; gradually stir in the juice until the butter absorbs it (this will take a while!). Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then chill the mixture thoroughly, perhaps even in the freezer. For the prosciutto, heat a pan without oil, add the slices, whole or slightly torn, season with a little vanilla sugar and pepper or chili, and fry briefly, then set aside. For the dumplings, boil plenty of salted water, scoop out dumplings from the mixture with a spoon and add them to the salted water. Once the water has returned to a gentle boil, reduce the heat or turn off the heat, depending on your stove, and let the dumplings simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Stir gently once or twice at the beginning to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan. While the dumplings are cooking, heat a little olive oil in the pan in which you fried the prosciutto, add the cherry tomatoes and rosemary, and fry the tomatoes, stirring occasionally. I don’t season the tomatoes any further for this dish, but you can do it differently (see “Schrat’s Braised Tomatoes” in the CK database for suggestions). Heat the butter in a pan and fry and brown the finished dumplings. Gently bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then combine with the cold saffron-lemon butter and season with salt and pepper. The sauce shouldn’t come back to a boil after adding the butter (otherwise it will separate), so do this step at the very end. Cover the dumplings on a plate with a little sauce, arrange them with the roasted tomatoes, and garnish with the prosciutto slices and a sprinkling of rosemary. If desired, serve with freshly grated cheese of your choice. Vegetarian preparation: This dish can easily be adapted for vegetarian use – even in portions. Simply omit the prosciutto or, if making individual portions, cook the tomatoes separately rather than continuing to fry in the prosciutto’s cooking residue. For vegetarian portions, sprinkle a little vanilla sugar and smoked salt over the tomatoes at the end. When making the vegetarian version, make sure to choose a cheese without animal rennet.