Spinach gnocchi are the most luxurious gnocchi you can ever make. They don’t only look fantastic – they taste fantastic! The dish comes from Lombardy and Tuscany where they call them “malfatti”. They are much lighter than the standard gnocchi, as they contain ricotta cheese and spinach. They make perfect first course along with butter, parmesan and sage but also a side dish.
There are gnocchi available in supermarkets, but generally, the Italians make them freshly.
The recipe below comes from the Italian course that my husband made a few years ago. Last year we came across this recipe because we were looking for an elegant side dish for our Italian cooking event. In the end, we decided to make another dish, but those gnocchi are definitely unforgettable!
Spinach Gnocchi
- 500 g spinach fresh, washed
- 200 g flour
- 150 g ricotta
- 100 g butter
- 80 g parmesan
- 2 eggs
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 egg yolk
- salt
- nutmeg
- pepper
- Preheat the pan with 30g butter. Add the onion and stir until golden brown. Add spinach, wait 3 minutes and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
- In the large bowl mix together: ricotta, 40g parmesan, eggs and egg yolk, salt, nutmeg, pepper and spinach. When all ingredients are well-combined add flour, mix everything well and correct seasoning.
- Prepare a large pot with salty, boiling water. Form the gnocchi with 2 wet teaspoons from the prepared mixture. Cook them on low heat for 5 minutes, until they come out from the water.
- Melt the rest of the butter in the pan. Take out the gnocchi, trickle them with some butter and rest of the parmesan.
- Bake gnocchi for about 5 minutes.
