Malfatti Food

MALFATTI (ITALIAN SPINACH RICOTTA DUMPLINGS IN NAPOLI SAUCE)

Steps:

• Saute garlic and onion: Heat oil in a small pot or large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for 3 minutes until onion is softened.
• Simmer sauce: Add remaining ingredients plus the stem of basil. Bring to a simmer, then reduce stove to low and cook, stirring every now and then, for 20 minutes. It should be fairly thick rather than a loose runny sauce.
• Drain ricotta, if needed: The ricotta should be the dry and fairly crumbly type rather than wet, soft and almost spreadable. If it's wet, see Note 1 for removing excess water (wet ricotta makes Malfatti hard to shape and cook!)
• Sweat spinach: Toss spinach with 1/2 tsp salt in large colander. Leave for 20 minutes. Roll up in tea towel and squeeze tightly to remove excess liquid. Roughly chop.
• Sauté garlic, eschalot and spinach: Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and eschalot, cook for 1 minute until translucent. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Transfer to large bowl, allow to cool.
• Malfatti mixture: Add ricotta and all remaining Malfatti ingredients into the bowl. Mix well to combine. It should be too wet to roll with hands without sticking, but still firm enough to shape into dumplings.
• Form dumplings: Using 2 dessert spoons, scoop up about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture then shape into a football (quenelle) using the two spoons. Place on a paper-lined tray. You should get about 24-30.
• Boil dumplings: Bring a large pot of water to the boil, then carefully put 6 dumplings in. Cook for 2 minutes, they should float to the surface. Remove with slotted spoon on to paper towel lined tray. Repeat for remaining Malfatti.
• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
• Assemble: Pour Napoli Sauce into a baking dish, then top with Malfatti. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
• Bake 15 minutes or until the Malfatti has a faint blush of gold on the surface (Note 3).
• Serve! Sprinkle baked Malfatti with parmesan and basil leaves (tear large leaves). Spoon into bowls and served as-is. No starchy side is required, think of these as like gnocchi. Just add a leafy green salad with Italian Dressing or Balsamic Dressing!

MALFATTI WITH PANCETTA AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Steps:

• Dust a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet generously with flour; set aside. Place ricotta in the center of cheesecloth. Gather up the sides in your hands and wring out excess liquid. Transfer ricotta to a few sheets of paper towels and pat dry with more paper towels.
• Pulse ricotta, egg, 6 oz. Parmesan, and 1 1/2 tsp. salt in a food processor to combine. Transfer to a large bowl; sift in 1 cup flour and mix until just barely combined (try not to overmix). Scrape ricotta mixture onto a floured surface and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a 22x3/4" rope. Cut into 3/4" pieces and place dumplings on prepared baking sheet.
• Combine pancetta and 3 Tbsp. oil in a cold large skillet and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until pancetta is brown and crisp, 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl; reserve skillet.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a simmer (do not let it boil). Working in batches if needed, cook dumplings until they expand in size and float to the surface, about 3 minutes.
• Ladle about 3/4 cup pasta cooking liquid into reserved skillet and add dumplings, tomatoes, and butter. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring gently (don't toss), until sauce thickens slightly and coats dumplings, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
• Divide malfatti among bowls. Finely grate lemon zest over, drizzle with oil, and top with pancetta and Parmesan.

ANNA KLINGER'S MALFATTI

Steps:

• Drain the ricotta in a sieve lined with cheesecloth overnight in the refrigerator. Measure out 1 1/4 cups.
• Bring a large pot of water, heavily seasoned with salt, to a boil. Trim the chard, removing all stems and large ridges. Add half to the boiling water and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Fish out and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Repeat.
• Squeeze out chard with your hands. On a dish towel, spread the chard in a circle the size of a pie. Roll up the towel and have someone help you twist the ends to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Pulse in a food processor until fine. Squeeze out in a dish towel once more, until very dry. (You will have about 1 cup.)
• Melt half the butter. Mix chard and ricotta. Add melted butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1 heaping teaspoon salt and nutmeg and mix again. Drop in egg yolks and egg, season with pepper and stir again. Sprinkle a cutting board with flour. Shape into 1 ounce balls, about 1 tablespoon each, dropping them on the cutting board. You should have 25 to 30.
• Put a teaspoon of flour into a narrow wineglass. Drop in a ball and swirl until it forms an oval. Repeat. (You may need to change the glass.) You may freeze them at this point.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the malfatti and cook until they float, about 8 minutes. (If frozen, 10 minutes.) Put remaining butter in a small sauté pan and heat until bubbling, shaking the pan. When it smells nutty, add sage and cook 30 seconds. Season with salt.
• Drain malfatti and place on plates. Spoon on the butter and sage. Grate Parmesan over each plate.

MALFATTI OR GNOCCHI GNUDI (PASTA WITHOUT THE PASTA)

Steps:

• Wash the cleaned spinach and shake off the moisture until only a small amount of water clings to the leaves. Steam lightly until just wilted. Drain the spinach well.
• Put the spinach into a lint-free dish towel and squeeze out the water. Twist the dish towel and squeeze more water out. Keep squeezing the spinach until you truly believe that you've gotten all the water out. Now, continue to squeeze out the remaining water. Spread out the spinach onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with paper towels to soak up any remaining moisture. If it looks sort of dry and a bit stringy, you're ready to move on.
• Mix the ricotta cheese, egg yolks, nutmeg, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Chop the spinach into small pieces. Do not use a food processor for this process, you are looking for pieces not puree. Add the spinach to the ricotta mixture.
• Pull out a small ball of "dough" and make a walnut-shaped dumpling. The dough will be very very soft, but it should hold together. If you truly believe that you MUST add some breadcrumbs, do so a little bit at a time. Added breadcrumbs will take away from the angel's pillow tenderness that true malfatti boast. Continue on with shaping the little balls.
• Lightly dust each dumpling with the flour and set aside on a cookie sheet, being careful to use the smallest amount of flour for each dumpling.
• Boil 10 cups of salted water in a large pot. When the water is boiling, turn down the heat so you get a nice simmer.
• Drop the malfatti into the water one at a time, making sure that you don't crowd them in the pot. As the dumplings rise to the surface, carefully pull them out using a strainer spoon and place in a large bowl.
• After all the malfatti are in the bowl, sprinkle on the butter and plate. Serve with a light tomato cream sauce and a good dusting of the best parmesan cheese you can find.

SWISS CHARD MALFATTI WITH SAGE BROWN BUTTER

Steps:

• If using Swiss chard, fill a large bowl with ice water. Cook chard in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, transfer to ice water; let sit until cold.
• Squeeze chard dry. Transfer to a large double layer of cheesecloth; gather ends and squeeze to thoroughly wring out liquid (be sure to use cheesecloth; the chard will stain a kitchen towel).
• Pulse chard in a food processor until minced, about 30 seconds. Return chard to cheesecloth; wring out again to remove any remaining liquid. (If using spinach, squeeze dry with your hands.)
• Transfer chard to a large bowl. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add melted butter, ricotta, 4 egg yolks, egg, 1/4 cup flour, and 2 teaspoons salt to chard. Using an electric mixer, beat until a dough forms, 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, knead ingredients by hand in a large bowl until mixture holds together when lightly pressed.
• Cook 1 golf ball-size sample portion of dough in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes (to check for texture and seasoning). Taste sample; adjust seasoning if needed. If sample falls apart in the water, mix 1 more egg yolk and 1-2 tablespoons flour into dough until it holds together.
• Lightly flour a rimmed baking sheet. Scoop out scant 2 tablespoons dough; dust with flour and roll between your palms to form an oval-shaped malfatto; place on sheet. Repeat with remaining dough to form 24 malfatti. DO AHEAD: Malfatti can be formed 2 weeks ahead. Freeze on baking sheet, then transfer to a resealable plastic freezer bag. Keep frozen.
• Working in 2 batches, cook malfatti in a large pot of boiling salted water until cooked through, 6-8 minutes per batch (8-10 minutes if frozen). Drain and transfer to a plate; tent with foil to keep warm.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sage and cook until butter foams and begins to turn brown and sage becomes crispy, about 30 seconds. Season sage brown butter with salt and pepper. Divide malfatti among plates; spoon sage brown butter over. Sprinkle with Parmesan.