What a way to use up vegetables: Spinach Gnocchi

Even though I still have big pot full of Ricet on the cooker, it's time to make another dish. We have a load of potatoes that need to be used up, as well as spinach growing in the garden that have to be harvested. So what better way to use them up then to combine them in one lovely dish.

I love making gnocchi. It's a bit of work to make but it's really delicious. To make it easier for me I bought a Mouli or Food Mill. It's such an great little invention that makes making restaurant quality mashed potatoes so easy (also good for soups and sauces).

Just pile the potatoes in and turn the handle.



But back to the Gnocchi. They are basically dumplings made from potatoes, similar to German schupfnudeln but served with the tradional Italian pasta sauce. This varient has spinach for extra taste and texture. Obviously you can vary the amount of potatoes and flour you use. I usually find that, depending on the quality of potatoes, you may need more or less flour. A lot of it is by eye.

Spinach Gnocchi

Ingredients:

450g Spinach leaves
1kg potatoes, unpeeled - use a floury potato such as a King Edward or roosters
1 egg (beaten)
300g flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated parmesan, to serve

Method:

• Finely shred the spinach leaves. Wilt in a large saucepan with a little water. Drain in a colander and squeeze well, ensuring that all of the excess liquid is removed. Allow to cool.
• Place the unpeeled potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. Allow to cook for about 30 minutes, until they are soft in the centre. Remove from the pot and peel the skins while still hot. (this can be a bitch to do because the potatoes are....well...HOT. What I found best is to use a handheld cheese cutter. It makes light work of the skins)
• Mash the potatoes and add salt and pepper to taste. I use the mouli for this to get a fine mash but a normal kitchen masher is fine.
• Then add the egg, mixing quickly to prevent the egg from cooking. Add the spinach and half the flour to the potato mixture and mix thoroughly. As stated earlier you may need more or less flour depending. You want the potatoe mixture to resemble dough.
• Sprinkle the rest of the flour on the work surface and knead the potato and spinach mixture until the dough is pliable. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. 
• Using your fingertips, roll out each portion until it's about 2cm thick. Cut each of the 8 rolls into 2cm diagonal pieces and place on a floured tray. Space them evenly to prevent sticking. 
• Bring a pot of water to boil with 2 tbsp salt. 
• Add the gnocchi and stir gently. When they are done, the gnocchi should float to the top after about 2 ½ -3 minutes then take them out using a slotted spoon.

You can serve gnocchi with a nice pasta sauce or even just some olive oil and grated parmesan cheese.

Another varient I like to do is to fry the cooked gnocchi in butter to give a crispy coating on the outside. Because they are soft on the inside, I have found that my neices love to eat these as well as a snack.

Now because I already have dinner for tonight, I'm going to actually freeze these. The best way to do it is to:

• Spread the uncooked gnocchi on a baking sheet making sure that they don't touch. 
• Put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes until they have started to freeze. 
• You can then put them in freezer bags and they won't stick together. 
• Put the bags in the freezer.
• When you want to cook them, just boil the water and drop them in while still frozen. Then, once they float, give them another minute or two and then take them out with the slotted spoon and serve as normal. 
• Enjoy.

Dr. D