I’ve recently been able to recreate a special recipe from BOOM (Best of Organic market) Awards ambassador Rosie Birkett which has been created to celebrate the Boom Awards ‘Nation’s Favourite’ Category. I was sent two recipes, in this blog I’m sharing the Organic Spinach, Ricotta and Pistachio Dumplings… How good do they sound! Thankfully I was sent an image of this recipe as I cooked it at family members house and my camera had  ran out of battery.

The Recipe;

Ingredients;

Soup;

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Sprig of Thyme
• Bay Leaf
• 1 tbsp parsley stalks
• 2 onions diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 sticks of celery diced
• 1 small organic swede pealed and diced
• 150g tinned plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp good red wine vinegar
• 200g organic kale stalks removed (reserve and chopped) leaved shredded
• 100g orzo Parsley and Chervil, to garnish grated lemon zest / organic cheddar and season to taste

Dumplings;

• Pinch of coriander seed
• pinch of rye seed
• 250 ricotta
• 10g parmesan
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 100g pistachios, toasted and chopped
• 200g spinach
• zest of 1 organic unwaxed lemon
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• a pinch of chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp light organic spelt flour
• freshly grated nutmeg

Method;

To make the soup;

1. Heat the olive oil over medium to high heat, add thyme, bay leaf and parsley stalks and stir, cook for a minute or two to infuse the oil.
2. Add diced veg and cook, stirring for 10 to 15 minutes, until softened and smelling good.
3. Add plum tomatoes and cook for a couple more minutes before adding 1 litre of water, vinegar and kale stalks, and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce to a simmer and then cook for another 10 to 15 minutes allowing all the flavours to infuse. During this time make the dumplings.

To make the dumplings

1. Dry fry the spices in a frying pan until they start to crackle. Remove and grind in a pestle and mortar. Wash spinach and then wilt in a none stick frying pan over a medium heat. There should be enough residual water from the spinach which you don’t need to add any other liquids. After a couple of minutes (once wilted) transfer the spinach to a sieve and leave over the sink to drain.
2. Press down on the leafs of the spinach with a wooden spoon to squeeze any excess water. Once cooled and drained, chop finely.
3. Place Ricotta in a bowl and add all the other ingredients.
4. Season with salt and pepper and stir well to combine and incorporate all the ingredients.
5. Oil your hands lightly with olive oil and shape them into meatball sized balls.
6. Poach them in the minestrone. Alternatively you could bring a pan of water to the boil and cook them in the boiling water for 5 minutes, until they rise and float – removing them with a slotted spoon.

Although this recipe may seem quite daunting when you look at the amount of ingredients in fact even the most novice of cooks could give this a try. Not expensive either as most of the ingredients should already be in your cupboards!

I cooked this for myself and family who all fully enjoyed it. The flavours are fantastic and the aroma that comes off while you cook is just mouth-watering. The children also had a little bit of the grub too and surprisingly enough they wanted more!!

This recipe as stated above was created for BOOM (Best of organic Market) you can nominate your favourite organic product HERE.