New year, new recipes!

Hi there,

First things first, I LOVE to cook and bake.

Since the new year just started, I have, like everyone else, a few New Years resolutions. One of them is to try out at least 2 new recipes a week. I will share them with you and if you would like, you can follow my progress.

When I lived in the US, I could not find some of the traditional German ingredients, so I had to improvise. However now that I'm back in Germany, I have the same problem with my American recipes. Either I can't find the ingredients or they are outrageously expensive.
Let face it, who wants to buy overpriced groceries?
In fact, some of my recipes I had to modify just stayed modified, because I like them that way.
Having lived all over and meeting people from different walks of life, I absolutely love new recipes, especially international ones.


I hope you will enjoy!


Keep in mind that some recipes are in grams and others are in cups ( one cup is about 250 ml )!

Today I made Ricotta-nockerl ( little spinach ricotta dumplings ) with Sage butter.
I served it with Rib-eye Steaks and fresh Herb butter.
For Vegetarians the little dumplings can be a meal by itself.

Ricotta-nockerl with sage butter

1 pkg. (450g) frozen, chopped spinach
1 bundle fresh parsley, finely chopped
250g Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
100 g freshly grated Pecorino cheese or  Parmesan cheese
100g flour
salt, black pepper, grated nutmeg

2 tbs. butter
1 tbs. olive oil
a couple of fresh Sage leaves


1. Thaw spinach and let it drip off in a colander. The spinach will still be very wet, you will have to
    use your hands to press out all the excess liquid. Set aside.

2. Wash your parsley and chop finely.

3. Combine ricotta, eggs, and grated cheese. Mix with spinach, parsley, and flour. The dough
   should be soft, but not runny. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

4. Heat a big pot of water. Use 2 tablespoons to form little dumplings
   from the dough and place on a floured surface. The flour will keep the dumplings  from sticking.

5. When you are done forming the dumplings, you can let them glide into the boiling water. Turn
     the heat down to a simmer. They need about 10 min., when they are done they will swim on top.

6. Heat butter and oil and fry the sage leaves lightly.

7. Take the dumplings out with a slotted spoon and serve with sage butter and grated
     cheese like Pecorino or Parmesan.