We were invited to lunch at our friends Joan & Terry’s the other day & she made fabulous spinach & ricotta gnocchi which were as light as a cloud. My only attempts at gnocchi previously have resulted in a heavy, chewy, doughy disaster made with butternut squash, not nice, so I was kind of put off. This is why I made my own ricotta(see yesterday’s post) to use in this dish as Joan said it was supposed to be really easy to make, & it was. This recipe was adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and it worked, they were really light and delicious served with a tomato sauce.
Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi Recipe
Serves 2 Vegetarian
- 300gr bag fresh spinach, washed & any stems picked out
- 1 tbsp butter
- salt & pepper
- 150 gr ricotta ( see yesterday’s post on how to make your own)
- 5ogr plain flour
- 2 med egg yolks
- 50 gr fresh grated parmesan
- freshly grated nutmeg
- extra shaved parmesan to serve
- 1 jar tomato pasta sauce (or make your own )
- Put the washed spinach in a large pan with a lid. (You don’t need any water other than what is on the leaves)Add 1 tsp salt, put the lid on & leave it to wilt, over a med heat, stirring occasionally, for about 3 or 4 mins.
- When the spinach is wilted leave it to drain in a sieve until cool enough to handle.
- Put the cooled spinach in a clean tea towel or in 2 or 3 sheets of kitchen roll & squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Chop the squeezed out spinach roughly and set aside.
5. Heat the butter in a pan over a med heat then add the chopped spinach & a large pinch of salt and cook for about 3 mins stirring regularly.
6. Empty the spinach into a bowl & leave to cool at room temperature.
7. Once cooled add the flour and ricotta to the spinach and mix together well.
8. Add the egg yolks, grated parmesan & some freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/4 tsp ), stir well until everything is incorporated, add some black pepper & taste to see if it needs more salt.
9. Flour your hands and roll small amounts of the mixture in the palm of you hands to make little pellets ( about 3/4 inch long) and put them on a plate lined with baking paper or flour.( See picture above). This makes about 40 small gnocchi enough for 2 people ( you can put them in the fridge at this point, for later, or even freeze them).
10. To serve, bring a large pot of water to the boil & salt well. Drop the gnocchi, a few at a time, off of a slotted spoon into the water, they will sink to the bottom.
11. In another pan heat up your tomato sauce on a med heat. When the gnocchi float to the surface they are ready (about 3 mins depending on the size). Scoop out the floating gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place in the warmed tomato sauce. Continue until all the gnocchi are in the sauce.
12. Serve in warm bowls garnished with shaved parmesan.
Delicious!
Please give me the conversion for the gr used in this recipe…
300 gr spinach
150 gr ricotta
50 gr flour
50 gr parmesan
1/3 cup flour, 2 oz grated parmesan, 5 oz ricotta, 10 1/2 oz spinach. Yes, wholemeal is very similar to whole wheat flour. Here’s a link for a conversion website I used, hope this helps and good luck! http://www.cookaz.com/convert_weight.aspx