This recipe for Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi has been adapted from Food For Your Brood.
Every now and then my heart smiles because of my blogging. One of those occasions was when I received the following email:
Hi Tandy
My son has just forwarded a link to your review of my book ‘Food for your brood’ and I wanted to say thank you!
It’s the first big review I have seen and it was so exciting to hear that you had taken the time to cook some of the recipes and liked them.
The feedback and comments are helpful too, as it’s my first book, so it is great to hear what people think.
I’m busy working on another book now, and will be in beautiful Cape Town next week to shoot sample pictures and do some publicity (I can’t wait to see the mountain again!)
Thanks again, and good luck with the blog which I really enjoyed.
Best wishes
Sam
I let Sam know that I had made three of her recipes, and that I would be sharing them on the blog soon. The Spinach And Ricotta Gnocchi were delicious, and this would definitely be something I would make again. They are easy to make, and so versatile that I think you could use any leafy green for these.
Spinach And Ricotta Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 400 g baby spinach leaves rinsed
- 5 g butter
- 2 eggs
- 250 g ricotta cheese
- nutmeg to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- 40 g Parmesan, grated
- 50 g flour
To make
- Water for boiling
- Salt for the water
- Semolina for rolling
To serve
- 50 g butter
- 4 sage leaves, finely sliced
- 40 g Parmesan, finely grated
Method
- Place the butter into a large frying pan over a medium temperature
- Once the butter has melted, cook the spinach until wilted, tossing as you go along
- Leave to cool and then squeeze out the excess moisture
- Chop finely and set aside
- Place the eggs into a bowl
- Whisk until frothy
- Add the ricotta and a little bit of nutmeg to taste
- Stir in to combine
- Season and then add the Parmesan and flour
- Stir to combine before adding the spinach
- Stir to combine and adjust the seasoning if necessary
- Cover the bowl with clingfilm and place into the fridge for 2 hours
To make
- Cover the bottom of a bowl with semolina
- Sprinkle semolina onto a baking tray
- Measure a teaspoon of the gnocchi mixture and drop into the bowl
- Dust with the semolina
- Use a gnocchi board to shape if you have one, or roll using a fork
- Once shaped, set onto the baking tray
- Carry on doing this until all the gnocchi are made
- Preheat the oven to 40° Celsius
- Add water to a large sauce pan and bring to the boil
- Add a generous pinch of salt once the water is boiling
To serve
- Place the butter and sage leaves into an oven proof dish
- Place the dish into the oven to allow the butter to melt - about 4 minutes
- Reduce the temperature of the water so that it is at a rolling simmer
- Gently drop 6 of the gnocchi into the water using a slotted spoon
- When they rise to the top (about 2 minutes), remove using the slotted spoon
- Gently place into a colander to drain
- Repeat until you have cooked all the gnocchi
- Put the gnocchi into the melted butter
- Sprinkle with the Parmesan
- Gently roll them over to cover with the butter
- Place back into the oven to heat
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Disclosure: I was sent the book to review by Penguin Random House South Africa and this recipe formed part of the review and is published with permission. This post is in line with my blogging policy.
Ingredients for my Spinach And Ricotta Gnocchi
- Spinach – I always use baby spinach when I cook as I prefer the soft texture, and that way I don’t have any hard stems to remove.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter for my recipes, unless stated. If you use salted butter be sure to adjust the amount of salt you add to the recipe.
- Eggs – I buy free range extra-large eggs which in South Africa weigh between 59 and 66 grams (shell on weight).
- Ricotta – this is readily available here and I only buy ricotta when I don’t have time to make my own.
- Nutmeg – it would be best to buy whole nutmeg and grind them fresh when you need it. But if you do buy ground nutmeg be sure to use it before the smell goes, and the colour becomes faded.
- Parmesan – if you cannot find this traditional Italian cheese where you live, or you don’t want to buy an imported product, then use any hard Italian style cheese.
- Flour – in South Africa our cake flour is what I use when I refer to flour. This is not the same as cake flour or all-purpose flour around the world, but whatever you use for cakes will suffice. I use only stone ground flour as I prefer the quality.
- Sage – this is such an easy herb to grow, and it is extremely hardy. You can pot it, or grow it in your garden.
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
What I blogged July 6:
- three years ago – Mint
- four years ago – Caraway
- five years ago – Pork Chops With Apple Verlaque Sauce and Shitake Mushrooms
How delightful, isnt that wonderful when we get acknowledged by the author. Go you! 🙂
Thanks Anna, it was such a great thing 🙂
What love filled appreciation from Sam and the gnocchi looks heavenly.
Have a happy Monday Tandy.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy xx
That is so nice! Often people forget to say thanks and it can be a bit disappointing. Not that you expect it but it’s such a nice gesture and doesn’t require much.
A simple gesture like this has a lasting impact, and you are right, it does not take much 🙂
Uh-oh…Julie alert! For some reason, she’s always fascinated by gnocchi dishes. Yours is just looking amazing! I love cheese!!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Thanks Alesah 🙂
Must be really nice to read a review of your own book, and very sweet of her to thank you for trying the recipe.
Spinach gnocchi are very good, never tried them with ricotta. I must give it a go!
Please let me know how they taste Emanuele 🙂
I’ve been in the mood to make homemade pasta and these gnocchi sound so good!
And you can make them using kale 🙂
Ooh those look good – and what a lovely e-mail from Sam!
The email was such a nice thought 🙂
Oh yum!! I adore gnocchi in any form, but these sound especially marvelous. 🙂
They are Krista 🙂
That gnocchi looks crazy delicious!! And that’s such a sweet email to receive 🙂
The email really made my day 🙂
wow,damn deliicous!!!
this spinach ricotta gnocchi is totally worth to try!!!
Hope you do try them Dedy 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious and easy to make. I will definitely print this out and give it a try. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hope you enjoy them Susan 🙂
That’s lovely Tandy 🙂 I will have to try this recipe – I love ricotta gnocchi – so much easier than the potato variety and I have a bounty of spinach in the garden so thanks!! Jan x
So glad you can make good use of your abundance 🙂
I’ve only tried making gnocchi once before and it was a hopeless flop. It was edible but I didn’t enjoy the texture at all. Now I’m too scared to make it again. 🙁 xx
Try these, they worked better than any I have done before 🙂
Gnocchi is something I always order in a restaurant and have never attempted at home. I will have to give it a try soon. Thank you for the inspiration!
Hope they are better than the ones you have eaten out 🙂
This gnocchi does look most excellent. What a nice email to receive, would love t get a few of those as well, very sweet.
It was very sweet Laura 🙂
The gnocchi looks amazing!
Thanks Pam 🙂
I love gnocchi, spinach and ricotta sounds so good!
These were a great combination 🙂
The gnocchi looks wonderful. I definitely will try it.
Hope you enjoy them Pat 🙂
That is so cool that she contacted you. And I can’t believe I haven’t had gnocchi in quite some time. I may have to give this recipe a try.
Kia / The House of KTS
http://www.houseofkts.com
It is so worth making Kia 🙂
They’re just gorgeous!
Thanks Tammy 🙂