Rustic spinach and cheese dumplings in sage butter

Rustic spinach and cheese dumplings in sage butter: a hearty recipe with diced stale bread, spinach, Alpine cheese, hard cheese and crispy sage.

At a glance

• Serves 3
• Prep time: 20 min
• Cooking time: 15 min
• Total time: 35 min
• Calories: 480 kcal per serving
• Protein: 18 g
• Fat: 26 g
• Carbs: 42 g

Ingredients

• 250 g diced stale bread (for dumplings)
• 150 ml oat milk
• 300 g spinach
• 150 g Alpine cheese (such as Gruyère)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 4 tbsp butter
• 50 g vegetarian hard cheese (Parmesan-style)
• 1 bunch of sage

Method

You’ll need: frying pan · chopping board · knife

1. Soak the diced bread in hot oat milk and leave it to stand briefly. Meanwhile, cook the onion and garlic in butter until soft and translucent.
2. Finely chop the spinach and add it to the pan briefly until it wilts. Mix everything with the soaked bread.
3. Work in the Alpine cheese, eggs, salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. If the mixture is too soft, bind it with a little flour and shape into compact dumplings.
4. Let the dumplings poach in hot salted water that is not at a rolling boil until they are cooked and rise to the top. Lift them out carefully.
5. Brown butter in a frying pan and briefly toss the sage leaves in it until aromatic and slightly crisp.
6. Arrange the dumplings in the sage butter and sprinkle with hard cheese. Serve immediately.

Good to know

Dumplings like these are honest comfort food. Glossy with sage butter outside, moist and full of flavour inside. Just right when you want something hearty that doesn't feel heavy.

Swaps

Alpine cheese → goat's cheese (often a more intense flavour; pasteurised in pregnancy). Oat milk → whole milk (also provides protein and calcium). Butter → ghee (can be heated to high temperatures; contains milk). Flour → spelt flour (similar binding).

Allergens

Contains gluten, egg and milk, and depending on the oat milk, possibly traces of other allergens. Well suited to children if you use the sage sparingly; in pregnancy, fine in normal kitchen amounts.