Homemade Spinach Gnocchi with Ricotta (Rabatòn)

Homemade spinach ricotta gnocchi from Italy

5 from 54 votes

Homemade Spinach Gnocchi with Ricotta (Rabatòn)

These luxurious homemade large spinach ricotta gnocchi from Northern Italy are just the best gnocchi ever! Perfect as a starter or a side dish you can make and bake them in advance and then reheat without losing any deliciousness!

Prep Time45

Cook Time30

Course: Main Course, Side Dish, starter

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, Northern Italy, Piedmont-Piemonte

Keyword: baked gnocchi, homemade gnocchi, spinach gnocchi, spinach ricotta gnocchi

Servings:

Calories: 399kcal

Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

For the spinach ricotta gnocchi.

1.1 lbs fresh ricotta (500g)
1.1 lbs fresh spinach and /or Swiss chard (500g) you can also use frozen spinach.
3.5 oz Parmigiano Reggiano (100g) or vegetarian parmesan
2.5 oz breadcrumbs (70g) can be gluten free breadcrumbs
2 oz wheat flour (50g) or gluten free flour
2 eggs One whole, one yolk.
2 sprigs fresh marjoram
fresh parsley
⅓ teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated
salt to cook gnocchi and to taste

For baking the gnocchi

2 oz butter (50g) more if needed
sage leaves

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients

Wash, prepare and cook the greens. If using fresh Swiss chard, wash the chard and cut off the hard end of the stems. Then cut the leaves off from the rest of the stem and cut them into pieces. Finally, slice the stems, so they are quite small. Cook stems and leaves together until the stems are soft. You can also use the stems for another recipe.
If using fresh spinach, wilt it in a saucepan with just the water on the leaves after washing them.
Drain the greens really well after cooking and squeeze out as much water as possible. Chop the spinach and chard leaves and stems. Then purée in a food processor. Keep the purée a little rough not too smooth.

Make the gnocchi mixture

Drain and mash the ricotta in a large bowl with a fork. Add the vegtable purée, one whole egg and one yolk, the marjoram leaves, some fresh parsley and grated nutmeg. Salt to taste. Mix everything together.
Add the grated Parmigiano or vegetarian parmesan to the bowl and mix again. Then add the breadcrumbs and mix again! If the gnocchi dough feels a little too wet, you can add more breadcrumbs.

Make the spinach gnocchi

Take about a tablespoonful of the gnocchi mixture. Using your hands roll it into a ball and then roll into a cigar shape on a well floured pastry board. These gnocchi should be about as long as your thumb or half the length of a standard fork.
Pro tip Boil a small pan of water and cook one spinach ricotta gnocchi before making them all to be sure it holds together well. Rabatòn only need a couple of minutes to cook. Once the gnocchi rises to the surface of the water, remove with a slotted spoon and place in a buttered oven dish.

Cook and serve the gnocchi

Heat the oven. Cook the gnocchi 3 to 4 at a time as per above in boiling salted water. Place them in one layer in a well buttered oven dish.
Add pieces of butter on top of the spinach gnocchi along with some sage leaves. Finally, sprinkle with parmigiano and bake in a preheated oven at 200°c (392 °f) until the cheese on top starts to brown.
Serve immediately with some of the melted butter from the oven dish spooned over the gnocchi.

Notes

Traditionally, these large gnocchi are served straight from the oven. They are also delicious baked and served in individual portion dishes! Italians eat them as a ‘primo’ or first course (starter) before the main course. But, you can also serve them as a side dish.

Rabatòn can be made and baked the day before and then just reheated when you want to serve them without losing any deliciousness! You can also rebake in a tomato sauce.

To make this recipe vegetarian use vegetarian parmesan instead of Italian Parmigiano.

To make this recipe gluten free, use GF flour and GF plain breadcrumbs (see content for more details)

Serves 6 as a starter, 4 as a main course. I got 18 gnocchi out of the ingredient quantities in this recipe.

Nutrition