RICOTTA DUMPLINGS
These ricotta dumplings are baked in a rich tomato sauce with a delicious parmesan top. So moreish! Serve with fresh buttered ciabatta and a crisp rocket and pear salad.
This is a really delicious vegetarian meal – I don’t even think you’ll miss the meat! Though I would definitely not discourage you from adding chopped bacon to the sauce if you wanted to…
If you have a spare avocado on hand, this would make a great addition to the salad (you might notice it appears in the photo above!).
RICOTTA DUMPLINGS
These ricotta dumplings are baked in a rich tomato sauce with a delicious parmesan top. So moreish! Serve with fresh buttered ciabatta and a crisp rocket and pear salad.
Ingredients
DUMPLINGS
- 1 loaf ciabatta bread, divided
- 400 g ricotta cheese (14oz)
- 1 cup finely grated parmesan, divided (90g)
- 1 egg
SAUCE
- 2 zucchini
- 1 brown onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 700 g tomato passata (1lb 9oz)
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
SALAD
- 100 g baby rocket (3.5oz)
- 1 large green pear
- 1 handful fresh basil (optional)
- 2 tsp olive oil
Instructions
MAKE DUMPLING MIXTURE
Use part of the ciabatta loaf to make 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (reserve the rest to serve with the meal). Combine breadcrumbs, ricotta, 1/2 cup parmesan and egg in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Refrigerate while you make the sauce.
Preheat oven to 180ºC (360ºF) fan bake.
MAKE SAUCE
Grate zucchini, finely dice onion and crush garlic. Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, until just starting to soften. Add zucchini and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in passata, vinegar, sugar and oregano. Simmer rapidly for 2 minutes.
Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a large round oven-safe dish (approximately 25cm / 10in diameter).
PREPARE DUMPLINGS
Roll ricotta mixture into approximately 20 round dumplings. Press gently into the sauce and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown on top.
MAKE SALAD
Place rocket in a salad bowl. Thinly slice pear and add to rocket. Sprinkle basil over the top. Drizzle with olive oil.
SERVE
Serve dumplings with salad. Slice up remaining ciabatta and serve with meal (spread with butter or drizzle with olive oil if you like).
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: Go for a Pinot Gris.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Replace ciabatta with an artisan-style gluten-free loaf. You could use gluten-free panko breadcrumbs instead of fresh bread in the dumplings.
INGREDIENT SWAPS / NOTES: Zucchini can be swapped for 100g / 3.5oz baby spinach if you prefer. I used an Italian herbs flavoured passata.
STORING AND REHEATING: Store individual portions in containers in the fridge, separate from salad. Reheat dumplings and sauce in the microwave. Add salad just before serving.
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