Chef Evan Funke’s journey into the kitchen took a long circuitous route that wound up in the heart of Bologna, where he found himself hand-rolling pasta with master Italian chefs. Since then, Funke has learned more than 150 pasta shapes, many of which he now doles out daily from his famous Los Angeles restaurant Felix Trattoria.
One of Funke’s signature dishes is his Gnocchi di Ricotta con Fonduta di Robiola e Lardo, a creamy, cheesy piece of pasta perfection. Here’s how you can have fun with this one at home.
Gnocchi di Ricotta con Fonduta di Robiola e Lardo
Ingredients:
(6 servings) Gnocchi di Ricotta
375g Ricotta
125g eggs/beaten
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
10g kosher salt
5 grates/1 pinch of fresh nutmeg
234g 00 flour plus more for dusting
Semolina flour for dusting
Fonduta di Robiola e Lardo
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
4oz robiola
Kosher salt
6oz lardo, thinly sliced
Small pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Gnocchi di Ricotta
Using a bench scraper, press ricotta through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl and set aside (Alternatively, pulse the ricotta in the bowl of a food processor until smooth, about 15 seconds.)
Add the eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt, nutmeg, and one third of the flour to the ricotta. Whisk until smooth, for about one minute.
Pour the remaining flour onto your work surface and spread it evenly into a circle about 10-inches in diameter and about ¼-inches. Add the ricotta mixture to the center.
Using the bench scraper, cut the flour into the ricotta as you would cut butter into biscuits, pushing the tool to the center of the mass, folding and cutting, and incorporating the flour a little bit at a time until you have a very shaggy mass. Parts of the mass will be rather wet while other parts will be floury.
Using your hands, gently pull the top third of the dough toward you, then gently press down and away from you. Give the dough a half turn and repeat the kneading until the dough is smooth and soft; this takes about four minutes. If the dough sticks, lightly dust your work surface with more flour.
Heavily dust a clean work surface twice the diameter of the dough ball with semolina. Place the dough in the center and cover it with a clean bowl or pot roughly twice the size of the ball. Let rest for 45 minutes.
Lightly dust the top of the dough with semolina. Using a mattarello, gently and evenly flatten the dough into a square about ½-inch thick and 14-inches in diameter. Lightly dust the dough once more with semolina.
Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough closest to you horizontally into a ½-inch strip. Repeat once more. Gently roll the strips toward you in the semolina. This will coat them in semolina, preventing sticking and making room for the next strip. Repeat with the remaining dough, working in pairs of strips.
Cut each strip into ½-inch pieces. Once all the strips are cut, gently toss the gnocchi in a handful of semolina and transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered for at least one hour.
Fonduta di Robiola e Lardo
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
In a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, bring the cream to a simmer.
Carefully transfer the hot cream to a blender and blend on high speed for 30 seconds to aerate.
Add ½-cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano and blend again on high speed until incorporated.
Add the robiola and continue blending on high speed until incorporated.
Season with salt and transfer the sauce to a large sauté pan or skillet and keep warm over low heat.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Season the water with salt. When the salt dissolves, add the gnocchi and cook until tender, about 2 to 2.5 minutes.
Using a spider, transfer the gnocchi to the sauce and stir gently to coat. Add some pasta cooking water, as needed, to loosen the sauce.
Transfer the gnocchi to an oven-safe serving platter or gratin dish.
Drape the lardo evenly over the gnocchi and bake just until the lardo is translucent, about 30 to 45 seconds.
Serve immediately with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.