Italian Stew With Spinach Dumplings Recipes

MALFATTI (ITALIAN SPINACH RICOTTA DUMPLINGS IN NAPOLI SAUCE)

Steps:

• Saute garlic and onion: Heat oil in a small pot or large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for 3 minutes until onion is softened.
• Simmer sauce: Add remaining ingredients plus the stem of basil. Bring to a simmer, then reduce stove to low and cook, stirring every now and then, for 20 minutes. It should be fairly thick rather than a loose runny sauce.
• Drain ricotta, if needed: The ricotta should be the dry and fairly crumbly type rather than wet, soft and almost spreadable. If it's wet, see Note 1 for removing excess water (wet ricotta makes Malfatti hard to shape and cook!)
• Sweat spinach: Toss spinach with 1/2 tsp salt in large colander. Leave for 20 minutes. Roll up in tea towel and squeeze tightly to remove excess liquid. Roughly chop.
• Sauté garlic, eschalot and spinach: Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and eschalot, cook for 1 minute until translucent. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Transfer to large bowl, allow to cool.
• Malfatti mixture: Add ricotta and all remaining Malfatti ingredients into the bowl. Mix well to combine. It should be too wet to roll with hands without sticking, but still firm enough to shape into dumplings.
• Form dumplings: Using 2 dessert spoons, scoop up about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture then shape into a football (quenelle) using the two spoons. Place on a paper-lined tray. You should get about 24-30.
• Boil dumplings: Bring a large pot of water to the boil, then carefully put 6 dumplings in. Cook for 2 minutes, they should float to the surface. Remove with slotted spoon on to paper towel lined tray. Repeat for remaining Malfatti.
• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
• Assemble: Pour Napoli Sauce into a baking dish, then top with Malfatti. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
• Bake 15 minutes or until the Malfatti has a faint blush of gold on the surface (Note 3).
• Serve! Sprinkle baked Malfatti with parmesan and basil leaves (tear large leaves). Spoon into bowls and served as-is. No starchy side is required, think of these as like gnocchi. Just add a leafy green salad with Italian Dressing or Balsamic Dressing!

SPINACH DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add spinach; cook and stir over medium heat until the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in ricotta; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add 3/4 cup of flour, Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Cool for 5 minutes. , Stir in eggs; mix well. Place remaining flour in bowl. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls into flour; roll gently to coat and shape each into an oval. , In a large saucepan, bring water and bouillon to a boil; reduce heat. Add a third of the dumplings at a time, simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. Remove with a slotted spoon; keep warm. Drizzle with butter; sprinkle with Parmesan.

ITALIAN SPINACH DUMPLING STEW

Steps:

• 1. In a large skillet,brown ground beef in 2 tbsp oil;drain. Add sauce,mushrooms,salad dressing and water;mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer while preparing dumplings,stirring occasionally.
• 2. In medium bowl,combine flour,baking powder and salt;blend well. In small bowl,combine spinach,cheese, 2 tbsp oil,egg and 1/4 cup milk;stir until dry ingredients are just moistened, adding more milk if necessary to form a soft dough. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto hot stew mixture. Cover tightly. Simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or until dumplings are fluffy and no longer doughy on bottom.

ITALIAN STEW WITH SPINACH DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• 1. IN 4 QT. DUTCH OVEN, COOK BEEF OVER MEDIUM HEAT, STIRRING OCCASIONALLY, UNTIL THOROUGHLY COOKED & DRAINED. STIR IN SPAGHETTI SAUCE, MUSHROOMS, AND WATER. HEAT TO BOILING. REDUCE HEAT
• 2. IN MEDIUM BOWL, MIX BISQUICK, SPINACH, CHEESE & MILK UNTIL SOFT DOUGH FORMS. DROP DOUGH BY 10 SPOONFULLS ONTO HOT SAUCE MIXTURE.
• 3. COOK UNCOVERED OVER LOW HEAT 10 MINS.. COVER, COOK 10 MINS. LONGER.