Malfatti or gnudi
Ingredients 6 servings
600 grams of spinach (frozen, defrosted)
1 small onion
Olive oil
150 grams of ricotta cheese
100 grams freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
flour (approx. 200 g)
nutmeg
salt, freshly ground pepper
Zeef voor de bloem Diepe koekepan Grote kookpan en schuimspaan
🕐 15🔪 15 🍳 30 ⏱️ 👩🏼🍳👩🏼🍳
1. Wash, chop and cook the spinach. Defrost the frozen chopped spinach (not the à la crème version!). Squeeze out as much moisture as possible.
2. Chop the onion very finely. Heat a dash of olive oil in a deep pan and gently fry the onion until it is transparent. Add the spinach and fry over a low heat until as much of the moisture as possible has disappeared. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
3. Stir in ricotta, half the parmesan cheese and then mix it all into the cooled spinach. Add the eggs and egg yolk and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Taste to see if the proportions are right. Use salt sparingly, but nutmeg and pepper can be used more!
4. Gradually sift the flour into the mixture and keep stirring. Eventually the mixture should be so firm that you can use two spoons to make a solid heap (in the shape of an egg) which does not immediately slide off the spoon but remains a little firmer. Now put the mixture in the fridge for a while so that it can stiffen up. If the mixture is still too fluid, stir in some flour if necessary.
5. In a large wide pot, bring three-quarters full of water to the boil. Let the water boil gently. Turn the oven on gently to 50 degrees and put an oven dish in it to warm.
6. Make egg-shaped balls with two spoons and lower them into the gently boiling water. Do about six of them at a time. If they rise to the top, they are good and you can take them out with a slotted spoon.
7. Put the cooked gnudi or malfatti in the preheated oven dish and cover them to prevent them from drying out. You can also drizzle a little olive oil over them straight away.
8. When all the balls are cooked, drizzle olive oil over them and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
👉🏽 Houd ze eventueel even in de oven warm en serveer ze daarna uit met olijfolie, parmezaan en een takje salie. Niet te lang in de oven want dan drogen ze uit.
👉🏽 As a variation, you can also top the Gnudi with a (pure) light tomato sauce or a sauce of fresh mushrooms (especially ceps) in oil. No cream sauces. Sauces quickly outshine the subtle and delicate taste of the gnudi.
Nice to know
Gnudi means 'the naked', because the mixture is normally used as a filling for ravioli. Without the pasta, they are naked, hence. Gnudi is used in Tuscany. In other parts of Italy, the balls are called 'Malfatti' because they look 'badly made'. This recipe can also be made with other ingredients, such as pumpkin, potatoes or fish with lemon. But these Gnudi are typically Tuscan. What is called: the ravioli Maremmani (from the Maremma region in South Tuscany) are filled with spinach and ricotta.
Comments