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Malfatti (Italian Spinach Ricotta Dumplings in Napoli Sauce)
Recipe video above. Malfatti means “badly formed” in Italian. These irregular spinach ricotta gnocchi-like dumplings may look a bit wonky, but they taste incredible!Like gnudi except with the addition of spinach, this traditional Italian dish can be served straight after boiling them. But it's really worth a quick 15 minute bake to get a light golden crust on the Malfatti as well as caramelisation on the edges of the Napoli sauce. It really takes it in a deliciously different direction!Servings: This will serve 4 very hungry people, or 5 standard servings.
👥 4 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 1h 10m⏳ Prep: 25 min🔥 Cook: 45 min👤 Goh (RecipeTin Eats)📖 recipetineats
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●skillet
- ●pot
- ●stove
- ●colander
- ●bowl
- ●oven
- ●baking dish
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Napoli Sauce:
2
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.
garlic (, finely minced)2 clovesonion (, very finely diced)1/2
3
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.
4
Malfatti:
5
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!)
6
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.
tsp salt1/2
7
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.
garlic (, finely minced)2 cloves
8
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.
9
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.
10
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.
11
Baking:
12
Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
13
Assemble: Pour Napoli Sauce into a baking dish, then top with Malfatti. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
olive oil1 tbsp
14
Bake ⏱️ 15 minutes or until the Malfatti has a faint blush of gold on the surface (Note 3).
15
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!
parmesan (, finely grated)1 cupcup parmesan (, finely grated)1/4Basil leaves (, small (optional))
Nutrition Facts
calories
503 kcal
fat Content
31 g
serving Size
1 serving
fiber Content
5 g
sugar Content
10 g
sodium Content
1601 mg
protein Content
29 g
trans Fat Content
1 g
cholesterol Content
151 mg
carbohydrate Content
32 g
saturated Fat Content
16 g
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