Potato Gnocchi Carbonara with Spinach

This is a take on the classic Carbonara. There are many places that will serve a Carbonara sauce with cream, however in Italy they make the sauce simply from the egg and olive oil. Instead of serving it with spaghetti, I've put it with homemade Gnocchi. There are some good shop bought versions, this just works out a lot cheaper.

500g kilo of waxy potatoes
200g plain flour
125g pancetta cut into lardons
2 eggs
50g Grana padano/Pecorino grated fine
2 tbsps of chopped flat leaf parsley
50g chopped baby spinach

First, make the gnocchi. Boil the potatoes in salted water until they start to fall apart. Drain and add them back to the pan. then warm to help them dry. Mash them to a smooth consistency. Throw a load of seasoning in and add the flour a bit at a time  until you form a firm dough. Then knead the dough for a couple of minutes. Roll this into sausages (about 1cm thick) and cut into little rectangles (3cm wide.) Put a large pan of water on to boil and add lots of table salt.

For the Carbonara sauce, warm some olive oil and add the pancetta (you can add streaky bacon, but it's not as good.) Brown on a medium heat then add the spinach and some black pepper and let it wilt on a lower flame. In a separate bowl add the eggs (some recipes state just yolks, but you'll need 4,) cheese (Pecorino is the classic, but Grana Padano works just as well and is much cheaper than Parmesan,) parsley and a good hit of black pepper. Mix until well combined.

Put the gnocchi in the water and bring to a simmer. After a couple of minutes when the gnocchi floats to the top scoop it out with a slotted spoon and add it to the pan of pancetta. Mix the gnocchi in the oil and add to the bowl of egg mix (including the olive oil.) As the you stir the gnocchi, spinach and pancetta in the egg, it slowly cooks and creates a sauce.

Serve with a decent, chilled dry white, possibly a white Rioja, and some good bread.