Sometimes just the name of a recipe can be intimidating. Not this one! Malfatti means "badly made", so there is literally no pressure on the cook!
Interestingly enough, the recipe has a few names, which is typical for an Italian dish, each region tends to give recipes their own name. Other popular names for this recipe are: "ravioli nudi", which is the perfect description, because they are, in fact, the filling of ravioli. Another, more interpretable name is "Strozza preti" which means choke the priest. Maybe because this is a dish that is often served on Sunday after church. Who knows. I like to go with the no pressure name!
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs. fresh spinach or 1.5 lbs. of frozen spinach
1 lb. of fresh ricotta
1 cup flour
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano
1 tsp. butter
1 large egg
Nutmeg
Salt and pepper
BUTTER AND SAGE SAUCE:
1 cup butter
about 25 sage leaves
INSTRUCTIONS:
Melt 1/4 of the butter and sauté the sage leaves in it - over low heat as not to burn the butter.
When sage is slightly crunchy, melt the rest of the butter in the saucepan and set aside.
Wash spinach and steam
Squeeze out as much moisture as possible. This is a very important step. After squeezing with a strainer, I take, a handful at a time, the spinach and squeeze it between a couple of paper towels to get more moisture out. Finally, I place on dry paper towels.
If you are making your own ricotta, see the recipe here.
In large bowl (I actually use a Cuisinart), mix the ricotta and spinach.
In a small bowl, crack egg, beat it, add the nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Add the egg mixture to the spinach and ricotta.
Add 2/3 of the parmigiano.
Add a couple of tablespoons of flour - just enough to be able to form balls, and not too sticky.
Distribute 1-2 tablespoons of flow on a flat surface (i.e. large cutting board). Roll a tablespoon size ball in the flour and place on a cookie sheet that is lightly floured.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Drop the malfatti balls in gently (best is one at a time).
With a large, slotted ladle, give one gentle stir to the pot.
As the balls come to the top, extract the balls with the slotted ladle and place in oven-proof casserole dish (I often use individual ramekins).
Add sauce and sprinkle with remaining parmigiano.
Broil for 2-3 minutes and serve.
NOTES:
The amount of flour is critical, too much and the malfatti will be chewy (instead of melting in your mouth), too little and the malfatti will dissolve in the pot of water. You may want to test a couple of them before you roll them all out!
An option to the butter and sage sauce is a nice tomato sauce.
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