polpette di spinaci e ricotta

I really enjoy the variety of polpette in Italy. In America, we always think of meatballs as made with meat and served with tomato sauce, but that’s not necessarily the case here. They can be served as an antipasti and made with vegetables, cheese, breadcrumbs, and then fried – sounds good to me!

These spinach and ricotta meatballs are actually meatless, but most importantly they are easy to make and super crave-able. They are baked in the oven, so there’s no risk of burning yourself with hot fry oil, which is something I have nightmares about.

This recipe for ricotta and spinach meatless meatballs combines a few classic and simple flavor combinations that really excite me.

Ingredients

Fresh spinach
Garlic clove
Extra virgin olive oil
Ricotta cheese
Grana Padano cheese
Breadcrumbs
Egg

Ricotta cheese is what is called a “whey cheese”, meaning it is made from the liquid whey leftover when milk is heated and separated into curds to make cheese.

Ricotta literally translates to “recooked”, so the process continues by reheating the whey with a bit of citrus or vinegar, and a fine curd develops. This is then strained through a cheesecloth and ricotta cheese remains. It can be made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey, but generally what we find in the store now is whole milk from a cow.

Sometimes the ricotta we buy in the store is still a little watery. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s just how much it’s been strained. For this recipe, we need it very dry; so give it a strain if there’s some liquid in your container.

Grana Padano cheese is a hard, crumbly cow’s milk cheese similar to Parmigiano Reggiano but produced across a wider range of select provinces and regions throughout the Po River valley in Northern Italy, for example in the Veneto, Piedmont, and Lombardy regions. It is registered as a protected designation of origin (PDO), meaning every part of the production, processing and preparation process must take place in the specific regions designated.

“Grana” translates to “grain” in Italian, which you see in the granular texture of the cheese, and it is typically aged less than parmigiano. Grana Padano also tends to have a softer and more buttery taste than the complex and decisive flavor of parmigiano.

Step by Step

The spinach and ricotta meatball mixture starts with spinach. Use baby spinach or “adult”. Generally, store bought spinach is pre-washed, but I still like to rinse my fresh spinach and then dry it thoroughly in a salad spinner or with paper towels. If wet spinach hits hot oil in your pan, an unpleasant splattering of painful oily fireworks could occur.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and plop in a whole clove of garlic. We’re just using it to flavor the oil. Within 30 seconds you’ll start to smell a beautiful garlicky aroma, and then you know it’s working.

Pile in the spinach; it might look like a lot, but it will wilt down. Use tongs to turn the spinach and rotate it in the pan, to make sure all the leaves are getting a coating of the oil.

As it hits the heat, the tender spinach should immediately start wilting and shrinking; it will only take a few minutes. As soon as it’s fully wilted, transfer the spinach to a colander placed over a bowl or in the sink.

Squeeze the liquid out of the spinach and let it cool completely. Then give the spinach a rough chop and place it in a big mixing bowl.

Add the ricotta cheese to the chopped spinach. Then add the grated Grana Padano cheese right into the spinach and ricotta mixture, along with some salt and pepper.

Also add breadcrumbs here to help bind everything together. Store bought or homemade breadcrumbs would both work.

Form the “meatballs” about heaping tablespoon size, but you can really make any size. I wouldn’t go much bigger than tablespoon size. Just make sure to adjust the cooking time depending on their size; if they are smaller, they will bake for less time in the oven.

We’re going to give the faux meatballs a light breading by dipping them in a bowl with a beaten egg and then rolling them in a dish of breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper.

The breadcrumbs in Italy are a perfect texture for breading, closer to a sandy texture, which gives a really even coating. They seem to be ground finer than most that I would come across in America. If you would also like your breadcrumbs at this consistency, simply blitz them a few times in the food processor.

All that’s left now is to bake them off! Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake them in a preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden brown delicious.

They are very tasty just on their own, still hot from the oven. My favorite way to eat them is standing over the pan in the kitchen seeing how many I can fit in my mouth at once. However, a more civil and frankly, adorable, way of serving them would be on a platter, each with its own toothpick, alongside a warm, simple tomato sauce for dipping.

Tips and FAQs

Substitutions

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese can be substituted for the Grana Padano cheese
Frozen spinach can be substituted for the fresh spinach. Frozen spinach must be thawed and squeezed of its excess water through a colander.

How to Serve Spinach Ricotta Meatballs

Serve spinach ricotta meatballs with a side of warm tomato sauce for dipping.

Or simply arrange them on a platter with toothpicks as a great addition to an antipasto table!

Serve with other antipasti like tomato and burrata bruschetta or tigelle breads!