Grain-free spinach gnocchi with browned sage-butter
I got this wonderful recipe from my mother-in-law (who got it off of the Cooking Channel). She and my daughter made it during her last visit and the entire family LOVED it!
Ingredients:
- 1 8-ounce container organic ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup organic shredded parmesan cheese (and 1/4 cup or more to sprinkle on top at the end)
- 1 lb. organic spinach
- 2 egg yolks
- 20 or more fresh sage leaves (the more the merrier. They. Are. So. Good.)
- 2-3 T organic salted butter for making sage-butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to:
- Boil 3 cups of water and then add spinach for literally 1 minute. You just want to wilt it, not cook it.
- Strain spinach in strainer and rinse with cold water to stop it from cooking. Then squeeze as much water out of it as possible. Don’t be gentle. Like seriously wring it.
- Separate 2 egg yolks into a large bowl (keep the whites to add to an omelette the next morning) and beat them thoroughly.
- Chop the spinach finely and add to egg yolks.
- Add ricotta and parmesan and mix up.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- On a buttered baking sheet, form little smushed teaspoon sized balls of mixture OR just lather the whole concoction onto the baking sheet (about 1/2 inch thick). It’s going to taste the same, so it’s really just a matter of how you want it to look. Put in oven for 20 minutes. After 20 mins, turn broiler on low for 5 minutes until gnocchi starts to brown and crisp.
- While baking, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet and add sage leaves. Saute the sage until it turns brown and crispy. This really is the most amazing part of the recipe! The gnocchi is really just a carrier for the crispy buttered sage leaves.
- Serve the gnocchi with the sage and sage-butter sauce and top with Parmesan.
When we made this recipe, the balls didn’t remain intact in the oven and became one big flat piece. We cut it into squares and enjoyed it just fine. This would be an excellent pizza crust, I imagine. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 🙂