Italian

These green gnocchi from Florence are one of Italy’s many less-known regional hand-shaped pastas featured in Pasta By Hand (Chronicle Books, 2015), Portland chef Jenn Louis’s (Lincoln, Sunshine Tavern) eye-opening new cookbook. Have plenty of wine to wash down these delectable dumplings: Strozzapreti, “priest stranglers,” are named for a hungry holy man who ate too many, too fast. Strozzapreti ¾ pound lacinato kale or white chard 5 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs 2 eggs 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese, preferably fresh 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste Kosher salt, to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Melted butter, for serving Heat a large pot of water until boiling. Add kale or chard and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove from water, cool in an ice bath and wring dry. Chop finely, and set aside. In a food processor, process bread crumbs until finely ground. Add kale, eggs, cheeses and a few gratings of nutmeg. Pulse just until well combined. Scrape into bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Line two baking sheets with parchment, and dust with flour. Scoop dough with a teaspoon, using the back of a second spoon to push dumplings onto baking sheets. Using hands, gently roll dumplings in flour to coat, making sure they don’t touch. Strozzapreti can be refrigerated on baking sheets for up to 2 days. Bring a pot of well-salted water to simmer over medium heat. Poach dumplings until they float, about 2–3 minutes (don’t heat the water above a simmer or the strozzapreti may fall apart). Remove with slotted spoon, and drizzle with melted butter. Top with Parmigiano Reggiano, and serve immediately. Serves 6.