Ricotta & Spinach Gnocchi

Intro: 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!

STEP 1: 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

STEP 2: 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.

STEP 3: 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.

STEP 4: 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.

STEP 5: 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!! :)

Comments

[kickinit233]

really cool, their is a Italian deli which has something like this but it's more like a fussili, he calls them the mistake as he screwed up making ravioli and then ended up turning them into a new type of pasta, thus the mistake was made.

[mazzinga]

These were great! I think I over did it with the flour though- the consistency could've been lighter. Tasty!

[lindarose92]

They look really good, I'm glad you tried and liked them! :)
Both ricotta and spinach tend to release a lot of water so it's important to not knead the dough too much. This way you don't have to add more flour. Anyways, your gnocchi turned out great so I wouldn't worry about it! ;) Thanks for sharing the photo!

[jhartbev]

oh I drowned them in flour.its more about the weight of the gnocchi if you stack them in a bowl.as I previously said, I mitigated this problem by spreading them as a single layer on a plate.

[jhartbev]

This turned out great:) thanks for sharing the recipe.i served this with a pesto cream sauce. this gnocchi itself doesnt have a strong flavor but a wonderful texture.a tip though dont stack your gnocchi..it will squish into a ball.so spread it on a plate in a single layer and youll be golden.

[lindarose92]

I'm so glad you liked it, thank you!! If you put enough flour on them they won't stick to each other...and if you are still worried that they do, pour a little bit of olive oil in the boiling water. It has always worked for me. I hope this helps :)

[Aretz]

I MUST try this. It sounds delicious, not too difficult, and I'm sure everyone in the house will eat it. I prefer making my own food rather than buying prepackaged, processed food; ingredient lists these days scare me.

[lindarose92]

You are so right, plus already made gnocchi (just like many other types of food) never taste as good as the homemade ones.
Let me know how it turns out, I am sure you'll love it! :)

[bluminki]

dont worry, i ate dogs snuck once (chocolate). They was amazing^^

[lindarose92]

lol I hope my gnocchi tastes better though!

[bluminki]

uh, it looks litlle like dog snacks with ketchup;P

[lindarose92]

Really? :(

[anoukkantelberg]

How many people will this amount serve?

[lindarose92]

I'd say about 2 people :)

[Muhaiminah Faiz]

wow Linda! it looks delicious! can't wait to try this recipe. :)

[lindarose92]

Thank you Muhaiminah!! Let me know how it turns out! :)

[Raycaster]

traditionally a patterned dowel is used to lightly roll each gnocchi after they are cut. this adds ridges like in rigatoni and helps catch some of the sauce. when I make gnocchi, I use a fork to do the same thing. they end up looking pretty much like the gnocchi at the store, but of course home made its so much better! this recipe looks really good.

[lindarose92]

Thanks! Yes, I know what you are talking about, my mother used to do the same with a fork but she stopped because it took longer, plus not much changed. Of course everybody is free to do that if they want :)

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Oooh, yummy! My husband doesn't really like normal gnocchi, maybe I'll get him to try this :D

[lindarose92]

Thank you Nicole :) I believe that this version has a more delicate flavor, I hope your husband likes it! If he doesn't, you'll have more to eat for yourself haha :D