Malfatti is a dish of Italian origin. It is considered as Italian comfort food for it is warm and tender to eat. Malfatti means dumplings made out of spinach and ricotta. These dumplings if cooked right are soft and tender and melt in your mouth with the first bite. It is generally served with a simple tomato sauce, butter or sage. For this recipe, we have chosen a tomato sauce which balances the malfatti with its acidity.
Ingredients:
For the tomato sauce:
5 Tomatoes (large, peeled and roughly chopped)
1 Onion (roughly chopped)
4- 5 Basil Leaves
3 Dried Red Chillies
6-7 cloves of Garlic (sliced)
½ cup water
2 tbsp Olive oil
A pinch of pepper (or more, based on your liking)
Salt to taste
For the Malfatti (Cottage Cheese and Spinach Dumplings):
A vessel in which you can knead dough
50g / 1/3 cup Spinach (boiled and chopped)
200g/ 1cup cottage cheese (Paneer)
2 tbsp Processed Cheese
4 cloves Garlic (grated)
3 Basil Leaves
½ tsp Lemon zest
2tbs Corn- flour
2tbs All Purpose Flour (Maida)
Extra Flour (in a bowl for rolling the Malfatti)
Olive oil to drizzle)
Substitutes:
1. Cottage cheese: Ricotta
2. Processed Cheese: Parmesan (originally this dish is made with parmesan but since I could not find it in the market, I used processed cheese).
3. Dried Red Chillies: Chilli flakes
4. Olive oil: butter, refined oil
Method:
For the Tomato Sauce:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan until hot. Now add the garlic and sauté for a minute (do not brown it). Next break the dried red chillies in half and add it to the pan. Saute this for 1 minute. Next, add the chopped onions and sweat it till it turns transparent.
2. Now add the tomatoes and sauté it on high flame for 2 minutes.
3. Break and add in the Basil Leaves. Mix it for a few seconds. Now sprinkle salt and pepper and add water to the pan. Cook this for 5 minutes on low heat till only half water remains.
4. Once the tomatoes are soft and only ½ water remains, take it off the heat and blitz in a mixer or grinder after the sauce cools down.
For the Malfatti:
1. Put cottage cheese in your vessel and add the lemon zes, grated garlic and grated cheese over it. Break the Basil Leaves and add in to this.
2. Crumble the cottage cheese completely and mix it with all the ingredients added in step 1. Now add in spinach, mix it and knead this mixture well.
3. Add corn- flour and all-purpose flour (maida) to this mixture and knead it well to make soft dough.
4. Once the dough comes together, shape them into balls and keep aside.
5. Take a pot to cook the dumplings. Fill more than half of it with water, add some salt and let it boil. Meanwhile, roll all the dumplings in the extra all- purpose flour.
6. Once the water comes to boil, put all the dumplings in the water and cook them for 25- 30 seconds (they will start to float by then).
7. Rempve them from the pot and place all of them on a plate. Drizzle some olive oil so they do not stick together.
To serve:
1. Add a dollop of tomato sauce on a plate and spread it a little (evenly).
2. Place 2 or 3 dumplings on the sauce.
3. Garnish this with some cheese and drizzle some olive oil.
Tips:
1. First put 1 dumpling in water and check if it breaks apart. If it does, add another tbsp. of flour to the dough.
2. Do not over boil the dumplings.
3. Malfatti is very soft, so be gentle with them when removing them from the pot.
FAQS:
1. You can store the sauce for 2 days in a refrigerator.
2. You can make the dumplings earlier and store them in the fridge. Reheat them in the microwave for 30- 40 seconds or boil them again for 10- 15 seconds.
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