Gnocchi Del Casentino

I have Tuscany the Beautiful Cookbook and Gnocchi Del Casentino is one of the recipes from the book that I have made many times. We call them spinach balls. We went to Costco yesterday and bought the super big bag of spinach and I got some ricotta cheese today so that we could have some tonight. They turned out great. They always do.

Gnocchi Del Casentino
slightly less than 1kg spinach
300g (1.25 c.) ricotta cheese
1 egg
150g (5 oz.) Parmesan cheese
nutmeg
salt
pepper
flour
butter
sage

1. In a large pot cook the spinach in a little boiling water until tender.
2. Drain the spinach, wrap it in a cloth, and squeeze out all the water. Be careful not to burn yourself!

This is the drained and squeeze dried spinach.

3. Finely chop the wrung-out spinach and put it in a bowl.
4. Add the ricotta, half the Parmesan cheese, egg, a pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Mix thoroughly.

Kinda looks like spinach dip.

6. Dump some flour onto a flat surface and roll small amounts of the spinach mixture in the flour to form a ball.
7. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
8. Roll each spinach ball in the flour again to fully coat it and keep it from breaking apart in the water.

The flour forms a clear coat on the gnocchi kind of like rice wrapping on a spring roll.

9. Add the spinach balls to the water in small batches and boil until they begin to float.
10. Remove gnocchi from water and place into warm bowl.
11. Cook the remaining gnocchi in the same way.
12. In the meantime melt some butter with the sage over low heat.
13. When all the gnocchi are cooked drizzle the sage butter and remaining Parmesan cheese over them.
14. Nom nom nom.

They might not look appetizing, but they are.

Saag Paneer

You have probably noticed by now that I don't really measure when I cook. I'll try to give measurements for this one. I bought onion naan at the indian store and I always buy paneer there in the frozen section. The paneer I buy is already cut and toasted, so that saves me some time.

Saag Paneer

3 9oz bags of prewashed spinach

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 Tbl. oil

2 tsp. tumeric

2 Tbl. coriander

1 Tbl. comino

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 c. yoghurt (I love cascade fresh)

1 lb. paneer, cut into cubes and toasted

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook spinach in large covered pot over high heat with about 1/4 c. water until completely wilted (about 7 minutes).

2. While spinach is cooking dice onion and garlic and saute with oil over medium high heat until browned.

3. Add spices to onion mix and saute another 2 minutes.

4. When spinach is cooked puree in food processor until smooth.

5. Add spinach to onion mix.

6. Stir in yoghurt.

7. Add paneer cubes.

8. Simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occaisonally until spinach darkens.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

10. Serve with naan and samosa.

If the mixture is too thick, add a little more yoghurt or some milk. I added some half and half today just because I had some. I added salt at the table because I forgot to add it when cooking. The onion naan was tasty, and the samosas were somehow better than last time (came out of the same bag.)