Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Triveneto — the plum dumpling tradition arrived with the Habsburg administration and Austrian culinary influence. It is most strongly associated with the areas of Friuli closest to the Slovenian and Austrian borders: Gorizia, Udine, and Carnia.
Gnocchi di susine (or Zwetschkenknödel in the German-speaking tradition) are the Central European plum dumplings that Friuli shares with Slovenia, Austria, and Croatia — a shell of potato dough wrapped around a whole small Italian plum (or prune plum, susina or damson), then boiled and finished with toasted breadcrumbs and cinnamon sugar, sometimes browned butter. The combination of savoury-starchy potato exterior and jammy-sweet plum interior is the defining flavour paradox of the Central European pasta tradition — sweet dumplings served as a primo or as a dessert secondo. In Friuli, they are served as a first course at lunch in autumn when the susine damascene (damson plums) ripen.
Gnocchi di susine is one of the great flavour surprises of Italian cooking — the exterior is a familiar soft potato gnocco, but cutting it releases a plum that has cooked to a jammy, sweet-tart centre. The breadcrumb and cinnamon coating adds crunch and warmth; the butter adds richness. Served as a primo in autumn, it is the sweet-savoury paradox that defines Central European-Friulano cooking.
Make potato gnocchi dough: 1kg floury potatoes (cooked, riced while hot, cooled), 200-250g 00 flour, 1 egg, salt. The dough should be barely cohesive — minimum flour is the standard. Pit a small Italian plum (or damson); optionally replace the pit with a sugar cube and a piece of cinnamon. Wrap each plum in 50-60g potato dough; pinch to seal completely. Boil in salted water 8-10 minutes. Remove; roll in pan-toasted breadcrumbs mixed with cinnamon and sugar. Finish with melted butter drizzled over. Serve 3-4 per person as a primo.
The plum must be slightly underripe — a fully ripe plum turns to jam during cooking and floods the dough. A small cube of sugar and a cinnamon fragment inserted where the pit was caramelises inside the dumpling during cooking. The breadcrumb-cinnamon-sugar coating is the finishing touch that transforms a boiled potato dumpling into a sweet preparation — toasting the breadcrumbs in butter until golden before rolling is essential.
Dough too wet — the dumplings burst in the water; the dough must hold its shape when wrapped. Plums too large — very large plums make sealing difficult and the ratio of dough to fruit wrong; use small damson plums. Not replacing the pit — a plum pit during cooking can crack teeth; always remove the pit and substitute a sugar cube.
Slow Food Editore, Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Cucina; Anna Gosetti della Salda, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane