Sometimes I don’t want to turn the oven on. Sometimes I just don’t want meat for dinner. Sometimes I want cake. Sometimes I want cheese. I am without a doubt the moodiest eater. Minus the ricotta, I tend to have the rest of these ingredients on hand. If I have a container of ricotta in my fridge with no plan for it (we all over buy groceries sometimes) this is a great way to use it.
I could call these “Ricotta Gnocchi”, since that is where this recipe started. I’ve since adjusted and designed this to be easier than a gnocchi. No rolling out dough, cutting or shaping. Just mix ingredients together, drop spoonfuls into boiling water and voila dinner is served!
These are great served with pesto (recipe here) but you can use a tomato based sauce too. You can also serve them in soup. Fresh out of the pot they are moist and cheesy, but the flavor profile is fairly simple so I recommend serving with at least a drizzle of sauce. And maybe a sprinkle of cheese 😉
Spinach, Ricotta & Parmesan Dumplings
Print RecipeIngredients
- 16 oz Ricotta Cheese (I use part skim)
- 1 cup Grated Parmesan (good quality)
- 10 oz. Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and excess liquid squeezed out*
- 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
Instructions
Set a large pot of salted water to boil.
In a large bowl, combine Ricotta Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Spinach (thawed & squeezed*) and Salt. Using a hand mixer on low speed, or with a sturdy spoon mix together until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
Add Eggs, mix to combine.
Add Flour, in small batches folding in to fully incorporate. Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Drop tablespoonfuls of "dough" carefully into boiling water. I use a 1.5 tbsp capacity push release cookie scoop. If you are using a spoon, be careful not to splash hot water as you drop them in. You can lightly flour a cutting board and spoon dumplings onto it until you are ready to boil them, using a slotted spoon gently drop them into the pot. Cook 8-10 dumplings at a time, do not over crowd them. They will sink to bottom, boil 3 minutes per batch (they will all float to top) and remove with a slotted spoon, gently shaking off excess water. Leave the water boiling after removing each batch until you've completed cooking them all.
Cool in a single layer on flat surface for 5 minutes, they will congeal and set while cooling. You can transfer to a bowl once batch is fully cooled.
Notes
*MAKE SURE ALL LIQUID IS SQUEEZED OUT of thawed Spinach. You do not want it watery or the dumplings will not hold together well. This will likely take 4-5 handfuls of squeezing to remove excess liquid.
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