Spinach Gnocchi With Fontina Cheese Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
• Once the gnocchi goes into the pot, start the sauce, as you want the gnocchi to be done first. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots, and cook for a few minutes, until tender. Stir in the cream, and heat to almost a boil. Gradually mix in the fontina and parmesan cheeses, being careful not to boil. Stir until smooth, then remove from the heat immediately, or the sauce may clump.
• Place gnocchi into serving dishes, and spoon the sauce over them. Garnish with chopped fresh basil.

Steps:

• Steam potatoes until very tender, about 35 minutes. Cool potatoes slightly and peel. Mash potatoes in large bowl until smooth. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, bring 2 inches of salted water to boil in large pot. Add spinach leaves to pot and cook until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Drain spinach, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible from spinach. Puree spinach in processor, adding reserved cooking liquid 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary to help puree and scraping down sides of processor bowl occasionally.
• Transfer spinach mixture to bowl with potatoes. Mix in egg, ground nutmeg and enough flour until soft and slightly sticky dough forms. Season dough to taste with salt.
• Dust baking sheet with flour. Working in batches and using floured hands, roll 1/4 cup dough on lightly floured work surface to form 12-inch rope. Cut rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece between palms to form oval ball. Lightly flour the wires of a whisk. Using thumb, gently roll each ball down length of wires, making ribbed impressions in gnocchi. Transfer gnocchi to prepared baking sheet. Repeat rolling, cutting and shaping of remaining dough.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 13x9-inch baking dish. Working in batches, add gnocchi to large pot of boiling salted water and cook until gnocchi rise to surface of water, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, remove gnocchi from water, draining off excess, and transfer to prepared baking dish. Pour 1/4 cup melted butter over gnocchi; toss thoroughly to coat. Top with Fontina cheese slices. (Gnocchi can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Bake until gnocchi are heated through and cheese bubbles, about 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Blanch the spinach for no more than 20 seconds in salted boiling water. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, drain and squeeze out excess water. Chop fine.
• Heat the butter or olive oil over medium heat in a heavy saucepan and add the spinach, salt (remembering that you will be adding Parmesan, which is salty), pepper, ricotta and flour. Stir together and let the mixture sizzle while you stir constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs, nutmeg and Parmesan. The mixture should be stiff. Transfer to a bowl, cover well and refrigerate for 2 hours or longer.
• Line a sheet pan with parchment and dust generously with flour. Remove the gnocchi mixture from the refrigerator. There are a few ways to form the gnocchi. You can scoop out small balls by the rounded teaspoon and place on the parchment (they will be sticky so use another spoon to scrape them out of the measuring spoon), or you can divide the dough into 4 pieces and on a floured surface, with lightly floured hands, gently roll each piece into a coil about 3/4 inch wide. Cut into 1-inch pieces and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Alternatively, place the mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a 5/8 inch round tip and pipe 1-inch blobs onto the parchment. Don't worry if the dough is sticky.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Meanwhile heat the tomato sauce in a saucepan. Adjust the heat under the water so that it is boiling gently and drop in the gnocchi, about 10 at a time. If they stick to the parchment or your hands lightly flour your fingers and sprinkle a little flour over the gnocchi. Once they float to the top simmer for 4 minutes, then move them to the pan of sauce with a slotted spoon. Serve with the sauce and additional Parmesan to taste.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8 x 8 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Beat eggs in large bowl to blend. Mix in spinach, then cheese and tomatoes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil reserved from tomatoes in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until onions begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add to spinach mixture. Mix in salt and pepper. Transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.
• Bake spinach mixture until set in center, about 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.