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1
Blanch the spinach in well-salted boiling water for 90 seconds. Drain immediately and refresh under cold water. Gather into a cloth and squeeze with firm, repeated pressure until no moisture releases — the spinach must be as dry as possible. Chop finely. The sign that this is done: a pressed handful leaves no green liquid on the cloth.
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2
Combine the bread cubes, ricotta, eggs, dried spinach, chives and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cover and rest for 20 minutes at room temperature. After resting, the bread will have absorbed the moisture and the mixture will feel cohesive and heavy rather than wet and loose.
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3
This is where the dish lives or dies. Bring the broth to a gentle simmer. Pinch off a single small canederlo — roughly the size of a golf ball — and lower it into the broth. Poach for 8 minutes without disturbing. If it dissolves or splays apart, fold additional dried breadcrumbs into the remaining mixture; if it is intact but unpleasantly dense, work in a splash of milk. Only when the test dumpling holds its sphere, is green throughout and pulls away cleanly from a probing spoon should the remainder be formed.
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4
With wet hands, form the mixture into dumplings of equal size — approximately 6–8 per batch for four portions. Arrange on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes; they will feel noticeably firmer to the touch when ready to poach.
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5
Maintain the broth at a steady, gentle simmer — surface should tremble, not roll. Lower the canederli in batches without crowding and poach for 10–12 minutes, turning once. They are done when they float with ease and a skewer inserted into the centre meets no raw resistance.
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6
Ladle two or three canederli into each warmed bowl with an ample pour of broth. Pass grated Trentingrana separately at the table. The broth should smell clean and savoury; the dumplings should be brilliant green at the surface with a paler, moist interior.