Trentino, Trentino-Alto Adige
Trentino's canonical spinach-bread gnocchi — stale bread soaked in milk, squeezed dry, mixed with blanched and squeezed spinach, egg, flour, and Grana Trentino, formed into rough cylinders and poached in salted water, then dressed only with browned butter and fresh sage. The name translates to 'priest stranglers' — the legend being that a greedy priest ate them so fast he choked. They are the most forgiving of all gnocchi — the bread provides structure that potato gnocchi lacks, making them difficult to over-work into toughness.
Green, earthy spinach with the dairy-richness of soaked bread and Grana, bathed in hazelnut-scented browned butter — alpine winter cooking at its most precise
The bread must be genuinely stale (at least 3-4 days old) and properly soaked in warm milk for 20 minutes, then squeezed completely dry — wet bread produces dumplings that fall apart in the water. Spinach must be cooked, squeezed to near-dry, and finely chopped before adding — raw spinach releases too much moisture. The mixture should hold together when rolled but must not be over-worked. The browned butter must be genuinely beurre noisette — golden and hazelnut-scented.
Test one strangolapreto in boiling water before cooking the batch — if it falls apart, add a small amount more flour and egg. If it's too dense, you've over-floured. The dumplings can be prepared ahead to the uncooked stage and refrigerated on a semolina-dusted tray for up to 4 hours. For an elevated service, add a grating of black truffle from Val di Non to the browned butter.
Not squeezing the bread dry enough — produces falling-apart gnocchi. Not squeezing the spinach dry enough — same problem. Over-mixing once flour is added develops gluten and makes the dumplings rubbery. Undercooking — they need to float to the surface AND remain there for 1-2 minutes before removing.
La Cucina del Trentino — Accademia Italiana della Cucina