Gnudi are gnocchi's lesser-known sibling — ricotta dumplings instead of potato, lighter on the fork, twice as easy to ruin. The ricotta has to be drained for hours. The semolina coat has to be applied a day ahead so the dumpling forms its own skin.
Ken Vedrinski runs Coda del Pesce on Isle of Palms and Trattoria Lucca in Charleston — Italian-coastal restaurants that have been in the Charleston fine dining conversation for over a decade. His gnudi had skin. Bobby's, per the broadcast, did not.
Without the skin, gnudi disintegrate in the cooking water. The dumpling becomes soup.