Malfatti, aka spinach and ricotta gnocchi

This has to be my favourite recipe find of recent times . I could imagine being served this dish in a beautiful Italian restaurant in the sunshine and enjoying every mouthful. The recipe is from the instagram account emthenutritionist , who I have followed  for a while and haven’t been disappointed with any of her recipes . The good thing is you can make the sauce and make the dumplings in advance and keep in the fridge until needed. Make double and you can have the delight two days in a row . 

You will need to serve 2

125g of ricotta
250g of spinach
1 egg yolk
30g of flour
60g of parmesan, finely grated
Zest of one lemon
Tinned whole CHERRY tomatoes
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 red chilli, diced and deseeded
Fresh basil, stems and leaves chopped separately



METHOD
Wilt the spinach. Transfer to a sieve and allow to cool. Squeeze out as much water as you can from the spinach, then chop it finely. Place the ricotta in a mixing bowl with the egg, flour, parmesan, lemon zest and spinach. Mix well until combined, season well with salt, pepper. Roll the mixture into little sausages on a very well floured board. The mix is wet so be gentle with them and use the flour to stop them sticking.
Make a quick pasta sauce, sweat garlic, diced chilli and basil stems in 1 tbsp olive oil for a few minutes. Add a whole tin of cherry tomatoes, pinch of salt and pepper, simmer for 5 minutes, using the back of a wooden spoon press lightly so they burst and break up slightly, tear in lots of fresh basil, mix then place each of the Malfatti into the tomato sauce. Cover with a lid in order for the Malfatti to steam. Simmer for another 5 or so minutes until the malfatti have plumped up slightly and the sauce reduced.
Allow to cool a little and top with lots of fresh Parmesan, lemon zest, a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil before diving in.