Spinach spatzle dumplings

Preparation time: 30
Cooking time: 15
Serves: 4

Ingredients

6 2/3 oz 200 gr boiled and drained Spinach
7 2/3 oz 250 gr White flour
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
3 3 Eggs
1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
a pinch a pinch Salt
3 oz 100 gr Double cream
3 oz 100 gr sliced Speck
1 2/3 oz 50 gr Butter
1 medium 1 medium Shallots
1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon freshly chopped Thyme
to taste White Pepper
3 fl oz 100 ml Water
4 leaves 4 leaves Sage

Preparation

To prepare these dumplings you’ll just need a mixer or a food processor and a potato ricer…

Boil in salty water and drain the fresh spinach. Chop them in a food processor and mix them together with the eggs,the water and the nutmeg. Add salt to taste.

Add the white flour and the freshly grated parmesan cheese to the mixer and mix well until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough.

Bring a large pot of salty water to the boil over high heat.

In the meanwhile prepare the condiment in a large non stick pan. Melt the butter and sauté the sliced shallots. Add the speck, fresh thyme and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the dough in a potato ricer and rice the dumplings directly over the pot of boiling water.

They will cook in few minutes, as soon as they come to the surface. Drain.

Transfer the dumplings in the condiment at low heat, add the fresh cream, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and fresh sage. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Notes

Spinach spätzle are a typical dumplings from Dolomites, whose mixture consists simply of boiled spinach, flour, eggs, nutmeg and water. I add some parmesan chess to the mixture, as they come out a lot tastier, and the dough turns to be dryer and easier to be mashed, whitout the risk they melt when boiling.

You can season spätzle dumplings in many ways: I prefer white condiments to enhance the vivid green color of the dumplings… In this version I used speck.

Speck from Alto Adige or Südtiroler Speck is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham, produced in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Its production is regulated by the European Union under the status of “protected geographical indication”. It is the key ingredient of south tyro lean cuisine, and its flavor is like a mid way between bacon and ham… with a hint of smoked taste.