Ricotta & Spinach Gnocchi
Last year I went to a friend's wedding and one of the things we had at the restaurant was ricotta and spinach gnocchi.
It sounded really fancy but all I could think of was: gnocchi without potatoes? Really?!
Potatoes are the main feature of gnocchi so I thought that this new version's taste would be very poor...boy, was I wrong!
It was so good that I had to find a way to make that recipe at home and here it is!
I believe that it is much lighter than the potato one, you can really feel it as you eat it. Let's not forget that eating spinach is healthy and I bet that even people (including children) who don't like spinach will love this recipe!
It's delicious and even though handmade pasta is usually quite long to make, gnocchi is super fast!
It sounded really fancy but all I could think of was: gnocchi without potatoes? Really?!
Potatoes are the main feature of gnocchi so I thought that this new version's taste would be very poor...boy, was I wrong!
It was so good that I had to find a way to make that recipe at home and here it is!
I believe that it is much lighter than the potato one, you can really feel it as you eat it. Let's not forget that eating spinach is healthy and I bet that even people (including children) who don't like spinach will love this recipe!
It's delicious and even though handmade pasta is usually quite long to make, gnocchi is super fast!
Ingredients
- 100 gr (1 cup) spinach
- 200 gr (1 cup) ricotta
- 125 gr (1 cup) all purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 40 gr (a little less than 1/2 cup) parmesan cheese
Mixing
The first thing you have to do is cooking your spinach in water as you normally do.
When your spinach is not as hot anymore, squeeze it with your hands to remove as much water as possible. Spinach retain a lot of water so you may have to squeeze it more than once.
Put your spinach with ricotta in a mixer and mix them together.
Add the egg and parmesan cheese and keep mixing until you obtain a green "sauce".
If you don't have a mixer, you can chop your spinach and mix it with the other ingredients using a fork.
When your spinach is not as hot anymore, squeeze it with your hands to remove as much water as possible. Spinach retain a lot of water so you may have to squeeze it more than once.
Put your spinach with ricotta in a mixer and mix them together.
Add the egg and parmesan cheese and keep mixing until you obtain a green "sauce".
If you don't have a mixer, you can chop your spinach and mix it with the other ingredients using a fork.
The Dough
The mix you have now is still too soft and wet so take it out from the mixer and put it on a surface (it's better if it's in wood).
Add the flour and mix everything with your hands.
You will probably need to add some more flour because the dough is still quite wet, but don't mix it too much otherwise it will keep getting wet and we don't want to add too much flour.
Simply stop mixing once you have formed a dough.
Add the flour and mix everything with your hands.
You will probably need to add some more flour because the dough is still quite wet, but don't mix it too much otherwise it will keep getting wet and we don't want to add too much flour.
Simply stop mixing once you have formed a dough.
Cut the Gnocchi
Now cut a little piece of dough. You will work with small pieces of dough at a time, it's much easier and faster this way.
Spread some flour on the surface you are working on so that the dough won't stick to it, and start to make a thin snake using the palm of your hands.
The thicker the snake is, the bigger your gnocchi will be.
I prefer my gnocchi small so I tend to make it quite thin, about 1,5cm (0.59 inches).
Don't worry anyway, it doesn't have to be perfect.
Take a knife and cut the dough snake in many little pieces, about 2cm (0.78 inches) long.
These pieces are your gnocchis, and no, they don't have to be too perfect either! :)
Spread some other flour on them if you think that they could stick together.
Keep making more gnocchi working on small pieces of dough at a time until it's finished.
Spread some flour on the surface you are working on so that the dough won't stick to it, and start to make a thin snake using the palm of your hands.
The thicker the snake is, the bigger your gnocchi will be.
I prefer my gnocchi small so I tend to make it quite thin, about 1,5cm (0.59 inches).
Don't worry anyway, it doesn't have to be perfect.
Take a knife and cut the dough snake in many little pieces, about 2cm (0.78 inches) long.
These pieces are your gnocchis, and no, they don't have to be too perfect either! :)
Spread some other flour on them if you think that they could stick together.
Keep making more gnocchi working on small pieces of dough at a time until it's finished.
Time to Cook!
All you have to do now is cooking your gnocchi in boiling (and salted) water just like all kinds of pasta.
You will notice that gnocchi will go to the bottom of the pot as soon as you dip them in water and it will take them just a few minutes before going up.
So remove them from the water as soon as they start floating, this means that they are ready!
Serve with a good tomato sauce, the classic butter and sage or whatever you like!
Enjoy them!! :)
You will notice that gnocchi will go to the bottom of the pot as soon as you dip them in water and it will take them just a few minutes before going up.
So remove them from the water as soon as they start floating, this means that they are ready!
Serve with a good tomato sauce, the classic butter and sage or whatever you like!
Enjoy them!! :)