This was published 9 years ago
Frank Camorra's spinach and ricotta gnocchi bake
This heavenly baked ricotta gnocchi is full of Italian passion and happy memories.
By Frank Camorra
Italian and Spanish food share the same ethos - cooking with passion and simplicity using the best seasonal produce. My early cooking days were in Italian restaurants and my childhood was full of cooking and celebrating food with my parents. My father and I used to make chorizo and quince paste, similar to the salami and tomato passata-making days that Italians love.
Italian is the cuisine I always fall back on when cooking at home. Vanessa, my wife, also has a background in Italian kitchens. This baked ricotta gnocchi is a favourite dish of hers and whenever she makes it she says, "This is going on the menu in my cafe." I don't know when this cafe is opening, but I do know I will be one of the first through the door to tuck into this dish.
Perfection: Spinach and ricotta gnocchi bake. Credit: Marcel Aucar
The arancini are best enjoyed with a flavoured mayonnaise. I cant go past alioli (garlic mayo), but saffron mayonnaise is also great.
Spinach and ricotta gnocchi bake
For the sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
½ fennel head, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
700g tomato passata
salt and pepper
For the bake
400g rainbow chard, leaves removed from stems and washed
400g ricotta
4 tbsp parmesan, grated, plus extra for the top
4 tbsp plain flour
3 eggs
½ tsp grated nutmeg
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Preheat the oven to 180C. For the sauce, heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan on a high heat, add onion, fennel, garlic and bay leaves. Reduce heat to low and cook for about seven minutes or until the vegetables are soft and translucent. Add the passata, season, then simmer for five minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve for later. For the bake, bring a large pot of water with a good pinch of salt to the boil, blanch the chard leaves for five minutes then drain.
When cool, chop them finely. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the ricotta, parmesan, flour, eggs and nutmeg then season well. Mix the chopped chard with the ricotta mix, then pour into a piping bag without a nozzle. Spread half the tomato sauce over the bottom of a 30 x 20-centimetre baking tray. Pipe 4 to 5-centimetre-round balls in rows on top of the sauce until all the ricotta mix is used (don't worry if it looks a bit rustic, it will taste great). Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the balls, making sure that they all get some sauce; it will not totally cover everything. Grate a light shower of parmesan over the dish then bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
Serves 4
Porcini mushroom arancini
30g dried porcini mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
200g swiss brown mushrooms, finely chopped
500g arborio rice
50g butter, coarsely chopped
50g finely grated parmesan
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
100g plain flour
2 large eggs, beaten
200g fine fresh white breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 15 minutes to soften. Strain the mushrooms, reserving the water, then finely chop. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over high heat, add onion, cook for about 10 minutes until tender, add garlic and cook for another minute. Add swiss brown and porcini mushrooms, stir and cook for two minutes.
Add the rice and stir for a minute then add the soaking water from the mushrooms plus enough water to cover the rice by 2 centimetres. Cook on a low to medium heat until liquid evaporates, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in butter, parmesan and parsley then stir well for 1-2 minutes. Pour into a tray, spread the mix out to cool it quickly, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge. With damp hands, take about half a cup of rice mixture, roll into a ball shape then set aside. Repeat with remaining rice. Dip balls in the flour then the egg mixture then roll in breadcrumbs and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan to 170C, or until a cube of bread quickly turns golden when dropped in. Place a few balls in the oil gently and deep-fry, turning occasionally, until golden, about 5-10 minutes. Be careful as the hot oil will spit. Remove and drain on paper towel. Serve hot or cold.
Serves 6
TIP
The arancini balls can be frozen before you crumb them, then slightly thaw them to crumb. Be sure to totally thaw before cooking.