Malfatti
Soft dumplings of spinach and ricotta, poorly shaped by design, boiled for 5 minutes and served in sage butter.
Photograph credit: Piatto di malfatti by Teseo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Malfatti, Step by Step
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Wilt the spinach in a covered pan for 3 minutes. Cool, squeeze very dry in a cloth and chop fine.
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Mix the spinach with the ricotta, egg, half the Parmesan, the nutmeg and salt. Stir in the flour. Chill for 20 minutes.
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Roll teaspoons of the mix in flour into short sausages.
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Simmer in salted water in two batches for 5 minutes until they float. Lift out with a slotted spoon.
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Melt the butter with the sage for 2 minutes and toss the dumplings in it. Serve with the remaining Parmesan.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Tips for Making Malfatti
- Squeeze the spinach until dry.
- Test one dumpling in water first.
- Simmer gently, as a hard boil breaks them.
What Goes With Malfatti
- Sage butter
- Green salad
- Dry white wine
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Citrus Fennel Salad, Fave e Cicoria, Focaccia Barese.
Storing & Reheating Malfatti
Keeps for 2 days in the fridge. Freeze uncooked for 1 month.
Malfatti: Questions and Answers
How long does Malfatti take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of cooking, plus 20 minutes of chilling, so allow 1 hour from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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