71 3806

Spinach Gnocch-wee

August 19, 2008

Finally, I have a delicious recipe -- that you don't have to eat with a spoon -- for all those little ones without 
teeth. I keep talking to parents whose 12, 13 even 14 month olds still 
don't have teeth. They really want to move beyond purees, but need a 
recipe soft enough for their little ones to chew (or gum). These spinach 
gnocchi balls are so heavenly that Kenya only got his mitts on 8 or so 
before the grownups had eaten them all up!

This is a recipe that Popeye would be proud of. Packed with spinach 
and creamy ricotta, these little morsels are like soft pillows: 
delicate and so easy to make. You could even serve them with a little 
red sauce, but for easier cleanup, I highly recommend just a little 
sprinkle of parmesan cheese and that's it!


We used these to make this recipe:

Photo by Maren Caruso

Like this post Comment on this post

Spinach Gnocch-wee  (makes 40 small gnocchi balls)

  • Prep Time:10 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 3 minutes,
  • Total Time: 15 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces block frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 2/3 cup parmesan cheese, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling before serving.
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tablespoons flour, plus more for dusting your hands while rolling

Preparation

  1. 1. Defrost the brick of frozen spinach (you can also do this in the microwave).
  2. 2. Squeeze ALL (and I mean ALL) of the water out of the spinach in small handfuls (I use my hands and do it over a bowl to make sure I don’t lose any spinach).
  3. 3. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse. You want to make sure the spinach is in tiny pieces and the mixture is thoroughly combined.
  4. 4. Dust your hands with a little flour so the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands.
  5. 5. Take 1 teaspoon of the spinach mixture and roll into tiny balls. Place on a plate covered with waxed paper or parchment.
  6. 6. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for cooking the gnocchi.
  7. 7. Add the gnocchi to the water in batches and cook for 3 minutes or until they rise to the surface.
  8. 8. Using a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi to a plate or bowl.
  9. 9. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, cool and serve.
  10. *After step 5, place on sheet tray and freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer to a ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, thaw to room temperature and follow steps 6-9.
+ Recipe Box + Print 71

Related Recipes

Comments






1 2

  1. Karmen

    January 11, 2011 at 11:43 pm

    Reply

    My 5 year old son and I made these together tonight, and they were terrific! We made traditional gnocchi, too, but both he and our 1 year-old preferred these. Based on the reviews, I added 1/2 of a cooked sweet potato to the mix to help hold them together. They cooked up perfectly.

  2. Melanie

    December 8, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    Reply

    I just made these and my girls are still taking their nap. It is taking all I have in me to not eat every single one of them, they are so good! Thank you for coming up with recipes that not only babies like, but adults as well. It saves me a lot of time to be able to make one meal for the whole family.

  3. Amy

    November 19, 2010 at 7:16 pm

    Reply

    Any suggestions for making these dairy free? I am thinking of trying a vegan ricotta cheese (soy based, but am not sure how it will turn out)

    • catherine

      November 22, 2010 at 4:09 pm

      Reply

      Unfortunately you need the egg and cheese as binders. Let me know if you test it out with any other substitutes though and see if it works :)

  4. Lisa

    November 2, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    Reply

    I put these in my 4 year old’s lunch for tomorrow. I hope he likes them. They came out really good and look quite tasty. I would try some, but, I’m still full from dinner. Thanks for a great recipe!

  5. Shalu

    October 27, 2010 at 10:14 pm

    Reply

    I made them tonight for my 11 month old tomorrow’s lunch. They came out perfect. I dint have ricotta cheese in hand, so used cottage cheese instead. Cant wait her to try these. I also tried banana bites and tex-mex rice cakes from your website. My husband loved the rice cakes and wanted them again today for evening snacks. Thanks a ton for posting these wonderful recipes.

  6. page

    September 24, 2010 at 2:30 pm

    Reply

    What would you use instead of the egg for the ones that are allergic? Just the powdered egg replacer or something else?

    • catherine

      September 27, 2010 at 2:01 pm

      Reply

      You can combine 1 Tbsp of ground flax seed with 3 tbsp of water to replace the egg

  7. Katie

    September 16, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    Reply

    Could I use fresh Spinach?

    • catherine

      September 20, 2010 at 2:56 pm

      Reply

      Yes you can, you just need to saute them down and then drain ALL the liquid then chop and toss them in.

  8. Heather

    September 10, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    Reply

    Made these today for my 20 month old. He loved them. I made sure the water was a super low boil, and they turned out perfect!!!

  9. Heather

    September 9, 2010 at 5:40 pm

    Reply

    I was wondering what I could add to make the texture a bit more “adult-friendly”. The flavor is AWESOME (even my picky 3 year old loved them!!) but they were a bit too squishy for my liking.

    • catherine

      September 10, 2010 at 2:46 pm

      Reply

      Hmm interesting question, how about making it a true gnocchi and putting some potatoes?

  10. Sarah

    September 9, 2010 at 12:12 pm

    Reply

    These came out perfectly, but my 1 yr old only seemed to like them fresh out of the pot & warm. :)

  11. Jenn

    September 3, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Reply

    Has anyone done this with freshly grated Parmesan? Its all I have in the house.

    • catherine

      September 3, 2010 at 1:54 pm

      Reply

      This would be fabulous with freshly grated parm!!

  12. Larisa

    August 31, 2010 at 7:41 am

    Reply

    I made these last night and they came out pretty well! I actually started them the day before but ran out of time, so I put the mixture in the fridge. I formed the balls yesterday (with the mixture cold from the fridge) and cooked them – I made sure the water was not boiling super fast. They came out delicious and did not break apart. My son ate a few pieces, even though he had already finished his dinner!

  13. crystal

    August 26, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    Reply

    How long should these cook for? Mine started floating after around 30 seconds. I dont think they cooked long enough the texture was really creamy.

    • catherine

      August 30, 2010 at 2:01 pm

      Reply

      Once they start to float – cook for another 30 seconds and take them out :)

  14. Jana

    August 24, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    Reply

    I make gnocchi very often with potatoes instead of spinach, my babe loves them and its them by the mouthful. I dont like to feed him too much spinach because he poops a lot afterwards!!! but I do make him spinach empandas, that he loves!!

  15. Mindie VanBoxel

    August 24, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Reply

    I wonder if you could use rice flour and make these gluten free?

    • catherine

      August 24, 2010 at 1:56 pm

      Reply

      I don’t see why not, if you try them let me know how they turn out!

  16. Lisa

    August 18, 2010 at 3:49 pm

    Reply

    Mine also completely dissolved in the boiling water and I definitely squeezed the heck out of the spinach &only used the yolk. I had frozen them & when I went to check on them at the 4 minute mark, it was a pot of spinach water. I have hte rest frozen & will try some alternative ways of cooking them I think!

    • catherine

      August 18, 2010 at 4:52 pm

      Reply

      Hmm.. did they hold together in balls before you froze them? The issue may be the freezing. Let me make them again tomorrow, freeze and then cook them to see if I can come up with any good tips! You could also try defrosting them in the fridge and then cooking them according to the directions. That should help!

      • cocovolleyball

        July 19, 2012 at 12:17 pm

        Reply

        I had the same problem of them dissolving when they are frozen. I changed the water temperature (simmer to low boil), tried them frozen and slightly thawed but they either dissolved or were still frozen in the center. However, when I cooked them while they were fresh, they held.
        I will try baking as Lisa suggests.

      • Lisa

        August 21, 2010 at 2:22 pm

        Reply

        Think I could bake them instead? I’ll try the defrost method first. To answer your question- yes they were in balls, I even stacked them on wax paper in a container to freeze them & they held up to that.

  17. ap

    July 31, 2010 at 11:04 am

    Reply

    ok i dont know what went wrong… the gnocchi fell apart and i was left with a pot of water filled with ricotta and spinish mixture… what do you think i did wrong to cause it all to fall apart?

    • catherine

      August 2, 2010 at 3:48 pm

      Reply

      Your spinach may have not been squeezed all the way to get rid of all the liquid. I would say that would have been the problem. You have to really squeeze all the liquid out, if you feel like its dry, its not! Keep draining that liquid! Also, did you use just the egg yolk?

      • ap

        August 7, 2010 at 7:42 am

        Reply

        Thanks – this is helpful. will try this recipe again… on the bright side, i drained the water out and took the spinach mixture (didnt want to waste all of the mixture), sauted it with diced onions and garlic and mixed in some marinara sauce. voila! the result was a yummy spinach ricotta sauce – served over pasta with meatballs… tasted more like lasagna then regular pasta.

      • Jennifer

        August 4, 2010 at 4:08 pm

        Reply

        The other possible problem is that the water was boiling too vigorously. I had this problem with the first couple that I put in the pot. I turned the heat down a bit so it was a gentle boil instead of a rolling boil and the rest of the batch came out perfect. They were great too, by the way, I plan to make them again tonight.
        One other note, if your mixture is too wet, you can always add a little bit of flour, a Tbsp at a time, until you get to a better consistency.

  18. Cindy

    July 23, 2010 at 5:06 pm

    Reply

    what am i missing? how is the spinach mix and gnocchi combined?

    • catherine

      July 26, 2010 at 5:00 pm

      Reply

      You are not missing anything, take all the ingredients and put them in the food processor and pulse to combine. The gnocchi is what the spinach mixture is called when you form them into balls and place them in boiling water to cook. Gnocchi is the name of the dish.

  19. Abby

    June 7, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    Reply

    LOVED this… we could not stop eating them ourselves! Perfect texture!

    • Abby

      August 1, 2010 at 7:08 am

      Reply

      Also – love that you have some recipes for kids with no teeth – my LO refuses baby food – so we’ve been doing finger foods for awhile now. At 10 months he still has no teeth – so this was perfect!

  20. Trish

    October 19, 2008 at 4:38 pm

    Reply

    I tried this recipe for dinner tonight. I followed the instructions exactly but the balls fell apart after approximately a minute in the boiling water. I’m not sure why this happened and I am hoping you have an idea. I would like to figure out the problem and try once more as the recipe sounds great.

    Thanks so much for your time and thanks for all the recipes you are sharing.

    Trish

  21. Adina

    September 10, 2008 at 7:09 am

    Reply

    Hi, i tried making this gnocchi but found that the little balls didn’t hold together too well. they were very soft and barely held their shape. i followed the recipe exactly. how soft are they supposed to be? my son wouldn’t touch them, but he is going through a picky stage (he’s 12 months). i pinched off some and put it in his mouth, but he was still not interested. any thoughts?

  22. Heather

    September 2, 2008 at 8:12 pm

    Reply

    Just discovered your site, looks fantastic.
    Can these spinach Gnocci be frozen?
    Thanks

  23. linda

    August 27, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Reply

    What a mess! Spinach mush. I loved your salmon cooking method, but this one was a clunker. Could I have done something wrong? My hands were a mess. Thank God my daughter was asleep. If she were next to me, there’s no way I could’ve made this.

    • Natalie

      March 2, 2013 at 10:23 am

      Reply

      Same thing happened to me. I’m so frustrated!

1 2

Manage your shopping list and search for recipes from across the web at ZipList.com

Sign Up for Free Daily Recipes