Ricotta & Spinach Gnocchi

Gnocchi makes a change from pasta and can be made with different combinations of flour, potato, semolina, ricotta, egg and cheese. These dumplings are quick and easy to make as you simply mix the ingredients together and brown them off in a pan. You might want to double the recipe as they quickly disappear.

Prep: 30 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes per batch

Serves: 4

Ingredients

175g fresh spinach or defrosted frozen spinach

250g ricotta cheese, drained

85g  grated Parmesan cheese

60g – 90g wholegrain flour, plus extra for dusting

2 eggs, beaten with a fork

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp fine sea salt

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

12 sage leaves

Method

Put the spinach in a bowl, pour boiling water over and let it sit for 2 minutes. Drain, squeeze out the liquid and chop.

In a medium bowl mix the chopped spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, the smaller quantity of flour, beaten eggs, nutmeg and salt. Mix together, adding more flour if needed to make a sticky dough. 

Put a large plate on the worktop and dust with flour. Scoop a tablespoon of the dough and drop it onto the plate. Turn the dough over or roll into a log shape to coat in the flour.

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Fill the pan with gnocchi and fry gently for 10 minutes, turning occasionally. Repeat until all the gnocchi are cooked, adding more oil if needed.

Once the gnocchi are cooked, add the sage leaves to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes until crisp.

(Recipe from Calm Kitchen by Lorna Salmon)