Ingredients:
- 520g baby spinach leaves, washed
- 50g flour ('00' is recommended)
- 250g ricotta
- 1 large egg
- 200g grated parmesan
- flakey sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 200g semolina flour
- 100g butter
- a handful of picked sage leaves
- Steam the spinach for 3 minutes, then drain away the excess water & chop the leaves very roughly. Set aside.
- Mix the flour & ricotta in a large bowl until it resembles lumpy, moist bread crumbs. With a wooden spoon, stir in the egg & 3/4 of the parmesan. Add a good pinch of salt, a decent twist of pepper, the nutmeg & the spinach, and combine everything thoroughly. Form into teaspoon to tablespoon- sized balls and roll in semolina to coat completely. Place on a generously semolina-dusted tray. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
- Fill a large pan with cold water and bring to a hearty boil. Drop in the malfatti as quickly as possible, bring back to a boil, then continue to simmer for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter & add the sage leaves. When it bubbles, reduce the heat to very low. The malfatti will float to the surface when they're ready.
- Turn off the heat, remove the malfatti with a slotted spoon, being sure to drain off excess water. Evenly distribute onto 4 warmed plates, pour the butter & sage over the top, and, finally, scatter over the remaining parmesan.