Gnocchi on Thursday, but also on Friday, Saturday and every day of the week with Andrea’s potato and spinach roll recipe.
The dough for this recipe is that of gnocchi, the trattoria dish, loved by children, tasty and simple, but above all very nutritious. It is from this last characteristic that the Roman saying “Thursday gnocchi, Friday fish, Saturday tripe” originates: gnocchi, in fact, are energetic and tasty, perfect as a substantial meal before the day of fasting or abstention from meat, which according to Catholic tradition is Friday.
This simple recipe, which required a few easily available ingredients (potatoes, flour, eggs and water), today has many versions, enriched with butter, spices and vegetables, depending on the season.
The potato roll proposed by Andrea can be filled as desired and follows all the rules necessary to prepare perfect gnocchi: small tricks that grandmothers have revealed over time to their children and grandchildren, passing down an extraordinary culinary tradition.
Ingredients
- Dutch potatoes 1.5 kg
- Boiled spinach (1.5 kg fresh) 500 g
- “00” flour 250 g
- Grated Grana Padano to taste
- Eggs 2
- Butter to taste
- Salt 10 g
- Garlic 1 clove
- Sage 10 leaves
Method
Wash the potatoes and cook them in salted water with their skin on. Once cooked, peel them while they are still hot (you can use a tea towel to avoid burning yourself) and mash them with a potato masher.
Let them cool slightly, mix them first with the eggs and salt, then with the flour, until the mixture becomes uniform.
Blanch the spinach in salted water for 10 seconds and put them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a crushed garlic clove, stirring them until they are dry; Season with salt and pepper.
Prepare a pan at least 20/30 cm wide and fill 15 cm with salted water and bring to the boil.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured cloth to obtain a rectangle about one centimeter thick. Distribute the spinach over the dough, roll up starting from the long side and try to form a cylinder, using the cloth and tightening it as much as possible.
Roll up and tie the ends, immerse the cylinder obtained with the cloth in the pan with slightly boiling water and cook for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, delicately melt two knobs of butter with the sage, a pinch of salt and pepper to flavor it: remove from the heat before the butter begins to sizzle.
Drain the roll, let it rest for at least 10 minutes, remove it from the cloth and cut it into slices.
Serve with hot melted butter and a nice grating of Grana Padano.
