Spinach and ricotta malfatti
These Italian balls are light and fluffy like a dumpling but made with ricotta, spinach and Parmesan.
Ingredients
- 520g/1lb 3oz baby spinach leaves
- 50g/1¾oz ‘00’ flour
- 250g/9oz ricotta
- 1 large free-range egg, beaten
- 200g/7oz Parmesan (or alternative vegetarian hard cheese), grated
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 200g/7oz semolina
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú butter
- handful of sage leaves
- sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Steam the spinach for 3 minutes, place in a colander and thoroughly drain any excess water. Chop the spinach very roughly.
Mix the flour and ricotta in a large bowl until it resembles lumpy, moist breadcrumbs. With a wooden spoon, stir in the egg and 150g/5½oz of the Parmesan. Add a good pinch of salt, a decent twist of pepper, the nutmeg and drained spinach and stir to combine everything thoroughly.
Take a large, stemmed wine glass and drop in a dessertspoonful of semolina. Using a separate, clean dessertspoon, dollop a small amount of the mixture into the glass. Swirl around for a few seconds until you have a walnut-sized dumpling. Place on a generously semolina-dusted tray. Repeat until all the mixture is used up. When you have finished, you should have around 24 malfatti balls.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Drop in the malfatti, bring back to the boil and then simmer for about 3 minutes. The malfatti will float to the surface when they are ready.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add the sage leaves. When the butter starts to bubble, reduce the heat to very low.
Remove the malfatti with a slotted spoon and drain any excess water on a clean tea towel. Divide between four warmed plates, pour the butter and sage over the top and scatter over the remaining Parmesan. Serve immediately.