Vegetarian mains
Gnocchi verde
These cloudlike spinach and ricotta gnocchi make a delicious alternative to the more usual potato or semolina ones. Use true spinach, if you can get it; it gives a better result than the perpetual variety (and is easier to prepare). This makes a good main with a crisp green salad. Make sure you leave time to chill the mixture for an hour, or they'll fall apart when you cook them.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 450g spinach, tough stalks removed
- 75g plain flour
- 150g ricotta cheese
- 2 egg yolks
- 100g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra to serve
- pinch nutmeg, grated
- 2 tbsp butter
- handful sage leaves
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Heat the butter in a small frying pan, add the onion and cook gently for 8-10 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
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Step 2
Blanch the spinach in a large pan of boiling salted water for 1 minute, then drain and refresh in cold water. Drain again, squeeze out the excess water and chop the spinach roughly.
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Step 3
Add to the onion, seasoning well, and cook for about 8 minutes, making sure they are thoroughly combined. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and sift in the flour. Add the ricotta and mix well. Then stir in the egg yolks, Parmesan and some nutmeg and mix again. Season to taste.
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Step 4
Using 2 dessertspoons, shape the mixture into quenelles: take a spoonful of the mixture and then scoop it off with the second spoon, passing it from one spoon to the other until it is a neat oval shape. Place on a lightly floured tray and chill for 1 hour.
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Step 5
To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add them in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. When the gnocchi rise to the surface, give them about 3 minutes more, then scoop out with a slotted spoon and place in a warm serving dish.
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Step 6
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a shallow pan, add a handful of sage leaves and cook over a medium heat until the sage and butter brown slightly. The sage should be crisp but not burned.
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Step 7
Serve the gnocchi sprinkled with Parmesan and drizzled with sage butter.
