Nutrition

-       Spinach is hailed for having high iron content. Iron is needed for making red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body, without this mineral you could become anaemic and experience lack of energy, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Doesn’t sound worth skipping your greens for!

-       To get this iron content, its best to cook spinach instead of eating it raw as this makes the iron more absorbable by the body.

-       Other tricks to ensure you absorb the maximum iron content of foods; 1) consume vitamin c e.g. peppers when eating iron rich foods as they will increase iron absorption 2) Watch out for phytates , they are compounds that can slow down the absorption of iron and other minerals; they’re found in foods like legumes, grains and tea, soaking grains in water prior to cooking with them may reduce their phytate content.

Ingredients

-       3 garlic cloves

-       1 bag of Cavolo nero

-       100g Ricotta cheese

-       Pinch of salt and pepper

-       2 ½ tablespoon olive oil

-       2 onions

-       2 handfuls of spinach

Method

1. Cook the gnocchi in a pan of boiling water according to packet instructions and drain
2. Tear the leaves off the cavolo nero, steam or boil them until soft and then blend them with the oil, salt, garlic, ricotta and pepper into a sauce
3. Chop and fry the onions until golden brown and then add the spinach until wilted
4. Add the sauce to the gnocchi, stir in the onions and spinach, then serve!