Spinach Gnocchi

Yummy, easy and much better than shop bought! A perfect winter warmer dish which is also quite fun to make. The traditional Italian pasta, potato dumpling combination. This recipe makes around 50-70.

What you need:

600g Marie Piper Potatoes, 350g Spinach, 150g Plain flour (plus extra for dusting), 1 egg yolk, Black Pepper & Sea Salt

Simply peel and cut potatoes and simmer in a boiled pan of water for 20mins, when nice and soft drain and evaporate the moisture from the potatoes in the hot pan and mash to a nice smooth consistency, set aside to cool. Now wilt the spinach leaves in a pan on medium heat until soft. Scoop out the spinach onto muslin and squeeze the liquid from the spinach, as much as you possibly can. Now finely chop the spinach and add to a mixing bowl.

In the mixing bowl add to the spinach, the mashed potatoes, flour, egg yolk and seasoning. Mix the ingredients until thoroughly combined together. Now take  take a lined tray and dust with flour (also dust your hands). Simply take small amounts of the dough and roll into chocolate truffle sized balls, do this until all the mixture has been turned into little balls (^-^) Now take a folk and gently press the top of each ball. To cook, fill a pan of water and turn to simmer just before boiling point. Cook the gnocchi in tens, so there is enough room for them to move around. once the Gnocchi has floated to the top it has cooked.

Serve with olive oil and garlic, or grill with melted cheese.

Autumn Warmer: Pumpkin, Spinach and Cinnamon Soup

On a cloudy, grey and crisp day there is nothing better than a big bowl of soup and some nice crusty cheese on toast. So today I decided to make a fall warming lunch with lovely seasonal pumpkin, fresh spinach and a kick of cinnamon.

What you need:

1/2 a pumpkin, big bunch of spinach, 2 small/medium potatoes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 400ml of vegetable stock, 1tsp of ground cinnamon, 1tsp of Dried Chillies, small knob of fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1tsp sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 tp of plain flour, 250ml of creme fraiche, butter.

Simple to make, chop the onion and garlic and gentle fry with a drop of butter in a large saucepan until golden brown then add all the spices (Cinnamon, Cumin, pinch of pepper and salt, dried chillies, Ginger), Gently mix and simmer on a low heat. The smell is lovely. Set aside for 60mins and let the flavours soak.

Now lets roast the pumpkin. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the pumpkin in half and take out the seeds, then cut into 4 slices and score crosses across the flesh, season with salt and two small knobs of butter (10g per slice) and roast in the oven for 1 hour. After an hour take out and cool, then gently with a knife slid the golden pumpkin away from the skin… yum! Take 1/4 of the pumpkin and add to your onion mixture and the set the rest aside.

Now back to the onion and pumpkin pan, add your chopped and peeled potato, roughly chopped spinach and piping hot vegetable stock into the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30mins or for as long as you like to infuse the flavours.

Once the potato is cooked take the mixture to the blender, add the rest of the pumpkin and blend (maybe you should do this in parts (unless you want a new shade of green on your walls). Once blended, I like smooth, to the consistency you like, return to the pan. Now in a separate bowl hand mix together the egg yolk and plain flour to a creamy texture, and add a little water. Now put your creme fraiche into the egg mixture and whisk up until the egg is evenly mixed in. The egg mixture is to make sure the dairy product does not curdle. Now mix in to the soup and simmer on a low heat, add more seasoning to taste.

and… enjoy a nice October warmer! I garnished mine with a spinach lead, cream and pumpkin seeds.