A white platter with green trim holds spinach and ricotta balls on a bed of red tomato sauce, garnished with grated cheese and basil leaves.

Pan-Fried Ricotta Balls

What happens when you combine creamy ricotta with vibrant spinach? You get this heavenly treat that is perfectly fried to perfection. I love serving these with a simple tomato sauce as an appetizer or side dish. You can thank me later when your kids request spinach for dinner every night after tasting these!

Illustration of the pasta queen golden crown with five rounded points and a row of circular decorations at the base.

Polpette alla Ricotta

Serves servings

Ingredients

2 cups 15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup fine dried bread crumbs plus more as needed
100 grams/31/2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese finely grated (about 1¼ cups)
1 large egg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Marinara sauce for serving

Method

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Set the ricotta in a fine-mesh sieve or colander lined with cheesecloth and let drain while you prepare the spinach. You want to remove as much excess moisture as possible.
Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook until tender and bright green, about 2 minutes. Drain the spinach, squeezing out as much excess moisture as possible, then finely chop.
Transfer the drained ricotta to a large bowl and mix in the chopped spinach, bread crumbs, and Pecorino Romano. Add the egg and salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.
At this point, you should have a dense mixture and should be able to roll it into balls roughly the size of a ping-pong ball, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. If it is too loose or too wet to roll, add more bread crumbs until the mixture is firm enough.
In a large deep sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the ricotta balls (working in batches, if needed) and fry until golden all over, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir them with a spider strainer while cooking so they brown evenly on all sides.
Serve as is or on a bed of marinara.

Learn to make sauces from scratch!

LET’S EXPLORE!

Pan-Fried Ricotta Balls

Polpette alla Ricotta

Ingredients

Method