SPINACH & HERB DUMPLINGS
Ingredients:
Dumplings
- 200g frozen spinach, defrosted (frozen weight)
- 15g fresh basil
- 10g fresh chives, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated/crushed
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 30g white miso paste
- 40g olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- ⅓ teaspoon fine salt
- about 30 twists of freshly ground
- black pepper
- 200g plant-based or regular milk
- 60g fine, quick-cook Leaf polenta
Cherry Tomato Sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 20g dairy-free (or regular) unsalted butter
- 3 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
- 280g sweet, ripe cherry tomatoes, such as Datterini, roughly chopped
- ⅓ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
- 5 fresh sage leaves
- 5g fresh basil leaves, plus extra to serve
- about 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons water
Method
- Squeeze the defrosted spinach to get rid of any water. Put the spinach, herbs, garlic, lemon zest, nutmeg, miso, oil, fine salt and pepper into a blender or small food processor and blitz to a smooth paste.
- In a medium saucepan on a medium heat, warm up the milk until steaming. Turn the heat to low, add the Leaf polenta and whisk continuously for about 2½ minutes, or until you get a very thick paste.
- Remove from the heat. Add the green paste and stir vigorously until it’s completely incorporated. Leave to cool for 2-3 minutes.
- Oil your hands and shape the mixture into 12 balls weighing about 30g each. Transfer them to a large bowl/container and cover with a lid or plate.
- For the sauce, put all the ingredients except the water into a large sauté pan on a medium-high heat. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring often, then lower the heat to medium and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring, until the tomatoes have softened and broken down. Stir in the water.
- Place the dumplings in the sauce and cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to
- low and cook for 3 minutes. Top with fresh basil, a good drizzle of olive oil and some flaked salt.