Italian-Style Spinach Dumplings

While cuisine hunting on the internet, I found a recipe for some "arugula dumplings" that sounded absolutely delicious! Unfortunately, I don't keep any of the main ingredients required on standby in my kitchen. I do, however, keep spinach on hand in the freezer, which made me think, "I know the basic components of a dumpling, so let's give this a shot!" And thus, the Italian-Style Spinach Dumpling was born!

I am rather proud of this recipe as I took that arugula inspiration and took it in a whole new direction... all by myself. I find this is one of the most satisfying aspects of cooking and baking: creating a culinary Frankenstein 's monster all your own. It's even better when that monster turns out to be quite tasty!

• 8 oz frozen spinach, thawed, drained well, and chopped
• 4 oz (approx. 4-5 slices) bread, chopped finely (I used wheat because it is what we routinely buy and we always have it on hand, but you could use 4 oz white bread or French bread with the crusts cut off)
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup light sour cream
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 3/4 cup real Parmesan cheese, grated (you won't want to use the bottled "sprinkly cheese" for this recipe)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Salt to taste (I used about a tsp of salt)
• 1/2 - 3/4 all-purpose flour (measure will vary; you will add between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup to get the needed consistency)
• Homemade or bottled spaghetti sauce
• 3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese

1. Heavily salt a pot of water and start it boiling on the stove.

2. Whisk eggs, sour cream, and milk together until uniform in consistency.

3. Add garlic powder and salt; stir.

4. Add bread, spinach, and Parmesan cheese, mixing well to combine.

5. Stir in flour a little at a time until mixture reaches a dough-like consistency ( a small ball of the "dough" should hold itself together).

6. Roll dumpling "dough" into tablespoon-sized balls. Drop about 10 balls at a time into boiling water. (Note: if this is your first time making these, you may want to cook just one dumpling to start with and taste test it once it done. After tasting it, you can decide to add more salt, flour, cook them longer, etc. before you cook all of them and it is too late to alter the "dough." Many a culinary catastrophe has been avoided by a simple taste test!)

7. Cook dumplings about 5 minutes (after they float to the top of the water, cook an additional minute to ensure egg-y middle is cooked all the way through). The center of the dumplings should be firm, not slimy.

8. Remove dumplings from water with a slotted spoon, being sure to drain all water.

9. Place all dumplings in an oven-safe baking dish. Repeat process until all dumplings are cooked and in the baking dish.

10. Cover dumplings with spaghetti sauce. Layer mozzarella cheese evenly over sauce.

11. Broil dumplings in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.