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Three green strangolapreti in sage butter with grated Trentingrana in a white bowl on a wooden table

Strangolapreti Trentini: Soft Spinach Bread Dumplings

Trentino spinach and stale bread dumplings, simmered for 9 minutes and tossed in sage butter with grated Trentingrana.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Primo
Cuisine: Italian (Northern Italy)
Calories: 466
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dumplings
  • 250 g stale white bread crusts trimmed, cut into 1 cm cubes
  • 250 ml whole milk warm
  • 500 g fresh spinach rinsed, tough stems trimmed
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter (14 g); for the onion
  • 60 g yellow onion (1 small); finely chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 60 g Trentingrana or Grana Padano finely grated
  • 60 g all-purpose flour plus 2 tbsp for your hands and the tray
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg freshly grated
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp coarse salt for the cooking water
Sage butter and serving
  • 60 g unsalted butter
  • 12 fresh sage leaves
  • 30 g Trentingrana or Grana Padano grated, for serving

Method
 

Make the dumpling mixture
  1. Put the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl and pour over the warm milk. Toss and soak for 10 minutes, stirring once, until the cubes are soft with no dry center.
  2. Rinse the spinach and put it, with the water still clinging to the leaves, in a 28 cm / 6-quart pot. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring once, until fully wilted. Tip it into a colander and cool for 5 minutes. Wrap it in a clean kitchen towel and wring hard until no liquid drips and you have roughly 200 g, then chop it finely.
  3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 30 cm / 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent but not browned. Let it cool for 2 minutes.
  4. Add the spinach, onion, eggs, 60 g Trentingrana, 60 g flour, 1 tsp fine salt, nutmeg, and pepper to the soaked bread. Mix with your hands for about 2 minutes, mashing the bread as you go. Squeeze a handful: it should hold a tight, slightly tacky ball. Add 1 tablespoon flour if it sticks wetly to your palm, or 1 tablespoon milk if it crumbles. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Cook and finish
  1. While the mixture rests, rinse the pot, fill it with about 3 liters of water, and add 1 tablespoon coarse salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Flour your hands and shape the mixture into 12 oval dumplings of about 80 g each, pressing firmly so each one is compact.
  2. Lower one dumpling in first and watch it for 1 minute: the edges should stay intact. If it sheds, work 1 tablespoon flour into the remaining mixture. Add 5 more dumplings and simmer the batch for 9 minutes, until they float and feel firm when pressed. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a warm plate and cover with foil. Repeat with the remaining 6.
  3. When the second batch has about 3 minutes left, wipe the skillet clean and melt 60 g butter in it over medium heat. Add the sage and cook for about 2 minutes, until the butter foams and smells nutty and the sage turns crisp. Add all 12 dumplings and roll them gently for 1 minute to coat. Divide among warm bowls and top with 30 g grated Trentingrana.

Notes

  • Use bread at least a day old, since fresh bread turns gluey once soaked.
  • Aim for about 200 g of squeezed spinach, because more water means more flour and denser dumplings.
  • Chill the mixture for 15 minutes so the flour hydrates and shaping is easier.
  • Cook in two batches of six so the water stays at a gentle simmer.