Malfatti Cheese & Spinach Dumplings

Malfatti means “badly made” in Italian, and that’s the whole charm. These rustic spinach and ricotta dumplings aren’t meant to look polished. They’re meant to taste incredible: pillowy, rich with Parmesan, and fragrant with freshly grated nutmeg.

The make-or-break step is squeezing every last bit of water out of the steamed spinach. This isn’t a suggestion. Wet spinach will fall apart in the pot and you’ll have ricotta soup instead of dumplings. Steam the leaves until they wilt, then squeeze them with your hands until nothing drips. Then squeeze again.

Once the spinach is bone dry and finely chopped, it gets mixed into mashed ricotta with eggs, half the Parmesan, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls and coat in flour. They cook in barely simmering water (not a rolling boil, which would break them apart) and float to the surface when done.

Serve immediately with melted butter and the remaining Parmesan showered on top.

Pro Tips

• Keep the water at a gentle simmer, never a hard boil; malfatti are delicate and will disintegrate in turbulent water
• If the mixture feels too wet to hold its shape, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it firms up
• Use a slotted spoon and handle the cooked dumplings gently; they’re soft and fragile
• Freshly grated nutmeg makes a real difference over pre-ground; a microplane and a whole nutmeg is all you need

Variations

• Brown the butter instead of just melting it for a nutty, toasted flavor
• Add fresh sage leaves to the melted butter for a classic Italian sage butter sauce
• Use Swiss chard or kale in place of spinach for a slightly different flavor and color