Spinach Gnocchi

Adding winter spinach to gnocchi gives them a wonderful flavour, as well as boosting their vitamin content. Sometimes winter spinach can seem a bit tough, but using it in this variation on the Italian classic makes the most of the earthy-flavour of this leaf.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

* 500g floury potatoes
* 300g winter spinach
* 1 egg yolk
* ½ teaspoon finely ground salt
* 150g plain white flour
* ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* 100ml double cream
* 150g blue cheese, such as Roquefort or Gorgonzola
* Pepper to taste

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and chop into quarters or eighths, depending how large they were.

2. It's best to keep the potatoes as dry as possible, so steaming is better than boiling. Either use a steamer or steam in a large sieve over an inch of boiling water in a covered pan for about 20 minutes, until soft.

3. Wash the spinach to remove all mud and grit and chop off any tough stems.

4. Chop well and cook over a medium heat, covered, with no added water, for 5 minutes, until well wilted.

5. Put the spinach in sieve and squeeze (push with the back of a wooden spoon) until as much water as possible has been removed.

6. Put the potatoes in a bowl with the spinach, nutmeg, ½ teaspoon of salt and 2/3 of the flour. Use a potato masher to mash well.

7. Add the egg yolk and mix well to bind the ingredients. Add more of the remaining flour, if it's still too wet.

8. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and tear off small chunks. Roll into about 40 balls and flatten with a fork.

9. Cook in batches in boiling water, for 2 minutes per batch. Drain well.

10. To make the sauce, melt the cheese and cream and pepper gently. Then add to the gnocchi and mix well.

Time From Cupboard-To-Table

50-60 minutes.

Notes & Variations

You can use any winter green to make this, or make it without any greens. Or you could try liquidised sun-dried tomatoes, to make a wonderful pink / red gnocchi!