Storzapretti (Corsican Chard Dumplings) refined and elegant

Name: Storzapretti (Corsican Chard Dumplings)
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1.5 broccio (fresh Corsican AOC cheese) of 17.75 oz (500 g) each, totaling 26 oz (750 g); 10.5 oz (300 g) fresh spinach to be blanched (see recipe instructions), leaving approximately 5 oz (140 g) after blanching; 1 garlic clove; 1 egg yolk (or 2 depending on size); 1 generous handful of fresh flat parsley leaves; 2.6 oz (75 g) Corsican tomme cheese; Fine salt, freshly ground pepper, and flour (see recipe instructions) as needed; Defatted sauce (not too tomatoey) from a meat preparation (beef stew, etc.)

By Dubarry 4.8/5 (16 reviews) · 🍳 4 made it

Storzapretti (Corsican Chard Dumplings), indulgent and flavorful — Photo : Aftouch-cuisine

Prep 45 min

Cook 20 min

Total 1h05

Servings 6 serv.

750 g of broccio AOC, 140 g of blanched and hand-pressed spinach: the foundation of Bastia storzapretti. Delicate dumplings, poached and gratinéed under the sauce from a stew.

Ingredients for 6 servings

Adjust for

servings

1.5 broccio (fresh Corsican AOC cheese) of 17.75 oz (500 g) each, totaling 26 oz (750 g)
10.5 oz (300 g) fresh spinach to be blanched (see recipe instructions), leaving approximately 5 oz (140 g) after blanching
1 garlic clove
1 egg yolk (or 2 depending on size)
1 generous handful of fresh flat parsley leaves
2.6 oz (75 g) Corsican tomme cheese
Fine salt, freshly ground pepper, and flour (see recipe instructions) as needed
Defatted sauce (not too tomatoey) from a meat preparation (beef stew, etc.)

Step-by-step recipe

The day before

1 Prepare a beef stew or another meat dish in sauce ahead of time, reserving enough defatted sauce to coat the broccio dumplings halfway up, which will become the storzapretti.

2 If possible, the day before serving, trim, wash, and blanch 10.5 oz (300 g) of spinach for a few minutes in a large amount of lightly salted water. Refresh immediately in ice water to set the color, then drain thoroughly, press the spinach by the handful with your hands to squeeze out the water, and leave in a colander overnight on a cloth.

The day of

1 Drain the broccio in advance in a colander.

2 Peel, crush, remove the germ, and mince the garlic clove very finely, strip and chop the parsley finely, break apart and chop the spinach by machine, and separate the egg yolk from the white (the white is not used to avoid a mixture that is too loose for dumplings) and grate the tomme.

3 Bring a large amount of salted water to boil in a fairly wide pot.

4 While the water heats, crush the broccio with a fork in a mixing bowl, then blend in the spinach, parsley, garlic, and egg yolk. Season lightly (the spinach was blanched in salted water, the broccio and tomme are already salted, as is the sauce) and pepper to taste.

5 Pour flour onto a plate and coat the bottom of a gratin dish with a little sauce (just enough to cover), then turn on the oven grill.

6 Using 2 spoons, shape dumplings from the mixture in the mixing bowl, roll them in flour, and place them very gently into the boiling water (a few at a time to prevent them from sticking together and the water from cooling too much). Remove them very carefully with a slotted spoon (they are very fragile at this stage) as they rise to the surface (a few minutes maximum depending on their size) and place them gently on the sauce base in the gratin dish.

7 Coat with sauce only halfway up, sprinkle with grated tomme, and place the dish under the oven grill but not too close, as the storzapretti need to be hot throughout before they are well gratinéed. Watch carefully and serve when the storzapretti are nicely browned (you should see their 2 colors, white and green, woven through the sauce). These storzapretti accompany the meat stew from which you've reserved some sauce or, if you prefer a lighter option, grilled meat.

A chef's advice

Don't skimp on pressing the spinach after blanching: if residual water remains in the leaves, the mixture becomes too soft and the dumplings will fall apart when poaching. Press by the handful, squeeze firmly, and leave to drain overnight on a cloth. This step is what determines whether you end up with 140 g of firm spinach or an unusable mush.