Gnudi!

Back to the kitchen tonight after a very long hiatus brought on by 7 weekends of travel in the last 9 weeks, leaving very little time for grocery shopping or meal planning. I'm catching up on Top Chef DC, where gnudi was featured on a recent episode, and decided to try it with this recipe by Giada DeLaurentis. Delicious and hearty for a thunderstorm-y day.

Ingredients

* 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
* 1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (I substituted fresh, finely chopped spinach)
* 1 cup grated Parmesan
* 2 eggs
* 2 egg yolks
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus 1 cup for coating (I found it took a little more than 5 T flour to get the dumplings to stick together)
* Store bought marinara sauce, heated

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, spinach, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and yolks. Stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and flour. Form mixture in to small, flattened balls.

Dredge the formed gnudi in flour to coat, tapping off the excess. Slide formed gnudi into the boiling water. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan; work in batches if necessary. Remove the gnudi using a slotted spoon after they float to the top and have cooked for about 4 minutes. (I found the dumplings rose after about 2.5 minutes and would recommend cooking them to 4 minutes total, as ours were a tiny bit soft.)

Arrange gnudi on a platter and lightly drizzle with marinara sauce.

Lynnie's Spinach Pasta with Ricotta and Pine Nuts

One of the best, easiest pasta dishes, and always makes me think of a dear friend who introduced me to it. An indispensable part of our repertoire these days. Heap on the ricotta! And the pine nuts really make the dish.

Spinach pasta - I like the "nests"
Bag of fresh spinach
Ricotta cheese
Olive oil
Pine nuts
Parmesan cheese
Sea salt and black pepper

Boil the pasta to your desired taste. Reserve the pasta water, strain the pasta, and put in bowls. Put an entire bag of fresh spinach (or more or less, depending on your tastes) in the pasta water and wilt for about 30 seconds. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts - more is better - at least a couple of handfuls! - in a skillet on the stove or in a toaster oven for about a minute or two, be careful not to burn. Put the wilted spinach on top of the bowls of pasta, add about a teaspoon of olive oil (again, more or less depending on taste), and toss. Add a big scoop of ricotta cheese, sea salt and black pepper to taste, toasted pine nuts, and a little bit of parmesan cheese on top. Tastes best with a little bit of each component - pasta, spinach, cheese and pine nuts - all in one bite.

Spinach, Pesto and Cheese Healthy Veggie Lasagna

"One of the best lasagnas I've ever had" according to a recent eater. Good ingredients are the key to this recipe, especially in the pesto - make it homemade or buy high quality. The prep is fast and the return on investment is high.

* 3 cups fat free ricotta cheese
* 1-2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
* 1 large egg
* 2 10-ounce packages chopped fresh spinach (I use a food processor)
* 1 7-ounce package prepared or homemade pesto
* 4 cups bottled chunky pasta sauce
* 12 no-boil lasagna noodles from one 8-ounce package
* 2 cups grated Fontina cheese
* Fresh mozzarella (about twenty mini bocconcini cut in half) - if desired

Blend ricotta and Parmesan in medium bowl. Season cheeses with salt and pepper; stir in egg. Blend spinach and pesto in another medium bowl.

Brush 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with oil. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce in prepared dish. Arrange 3 noodles side by side atop sauce. Spread 1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese mixture over in thin layer. Drop 1/3 of spinach mixture over by spoonfuls. Repeat layering with sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese mixture and spinach mixture 2 more times. Put a layer of the fresh mozzarella half-moons towards the top. Top with remaining 3 noodles and 1 cup sauce.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover lasagna with foil. Bake 35 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with Fontina cheese. Bake lasagna until heated through, sauce bubbles and cheese on top is melted, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes.

Maureen’s Curried Spinach Salad

Maureen is my mom's best friend, and we've had this *incomparable* salad every year on Christmas Eve for the past 25 years. Lately I've been craving it and indulging in making it even on non-special occasions. Luckily, it's easy.

2 lb. fresh spinach (I used baby spinach)
2 green apples, unpeeled
2/3 c dry roasted peanuts
1/2 c. dried fruit (cranberries or cherries)
1/3 c thinly sliced scallion (green onions)
2 T. toasted sesame seeds

For dressing:

1/3 c. white vinegar
3/4 c vegetable oil (I substituted olive oil and it was fine)
1/4 c finely chopped chutney (I used an apple-cranberry one but you can use most any kind)
2 T. sugar
1 t. curry powder
1 t. salt
1 t. dry mustard
3 drops tabasco sauce

To prepare salad, trim stems from spinach and chill (or, if no time and you don't mind stems, don't worry about it). When ready to assemble, tear spinach into bite sized pieces (not an issue if using baby spinach). Core and dice apples. Place spinach, apples, peanuts, dried fruit, green obions and sesame seeds in a salad bowl.

To prepare dressing: combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Toss with salad immediately before serving.