We all have goals in life. One of mine is to cook homemade gnocchi, those petite potato filled pillows of gorgeousness. I know it’s not as heroic as solving world hunger or negotiating world peace but it’s a solution to my families hunger, and that’s a start. However, cooking homemade pasta for the first time is a little intimidating, even to me ‘Miss I love to cook’. But not being one to walk away from a cooking challenge, I have scoured the pages of my favourite cookbooks looking for my equivalent to a ‘warm up session’, a practice before the big gnocchi game. And I found it! ‘Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings with Tomato Salsa’, thanks to the latest Donna Hay magazine! I feel as though these dumplings are the ‘basecamp’ to my gnocchi ‘Mt Everest peak’. They are my stretch and warm up session. I am not quite ready to tackle the real deal just yet, but by successfully whipping up these delicious babies I have certainly boosted my confidence. The dumplings are quite similar to gnocchi, they start as a dough, are rolled into balls, dropped into boiling salted water and fried in butter to finish, the only real difference is instead of potato I used ricotta. This exercise has revealed something quite dramatic though...these dumplings may even be more delicious than my beloved gnocchi. They really are that good. I mean when they’re cooked they are incredibly crispy and golden on the outside with the most lovely, silky, fluffy ricotta interior. And the tomato salsa is pure perfection! It marries perfectly with these dumplings as it adds a light, zesty, fresh finish and when served with a glass of crisp sauvignon blanc, it makes for a perfect Brisbane spring evening supper.
