MALFATTI – ITALIAN SPINACH DUMPLINGS

Preheat oven at 180°C.

To make the tomato sauce:

Crush the garlic and finely dice the onion. Heat a large pan or pot with olive oil. Sweat the onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes until soft and translucent. Pour in the tinned tomatoes, sugar, and balsamic vinegar. Simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring often. If the sauce is too thick add a splash of water. Transfer the sauce to a blender. Add the basil leaves and blitz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set-aside

To make the Malfatti:

Drain the ricotta cheese: place the ricotta cheese into a sieve lined with a cheese cloth or clean tea towel & place the sieve over a bowl to drain out the excess liquid for 20 minutes. Bring together the sides of the cloth and gently squeeze the ricotta cheese over the bowl.

Wilt the spinach by placing it into a hot pan, add a splash of water, pinch of salt and cover with a lid for 30 seconds remove the lid and stir. Transfer the spinach to a sieve and allow to cool. Squeeze or press out the excess water from the spinach. Chop the spinach.

In a bowl add the ricotta, grated parmesan cheese, spinach, eggs, nutmeg, flour, basil leaves and salt and pepper. Roll the mixture into 20 small balls and set aside. The mixture will be slightly sticky.

Fill a large pot with water and season with salt. Bring the water to the boil. When the water is boiling carefully lower the malfatti into the pot. Cook the malfatti for 2-3 minutes. Cooked malfatti will float. Cook the malfatti in batches, to avoid overcrowding the pot. Using a slotted spoon remove the malfatti from the pot and set aside to drain and steam.  

Assemble:

Reheat the tomato sauce if necessary. Pour the tomato sauce into a large oven proof dish, place the malfatti on top of the tomato sauce. Drizzle the malfatti with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until slightly golden brown on top. 

Best served immediately. Serve with extra grated parmesan cheese and LeaderBrand Wild Rocket.

BABY SPINACH

Creamy, smooth, and very nutritious! Toss through another salad, add a handful to a smoothie or cook with many other dishes.

• wb_sunny Available All Year Round
• grass Gisborne
• auto_awesome Washed & Ready To Eat
• check Good source of Folate
• check Source of Vitamin A

WILD ROCKET

Peppery, nutty and full of flavour. Try tossing this zingy leaf through your favourite salad, add to a pizza or mix through pasta to amp up the taste.

• wb_sunny Available All Year Round
• grass Gisborne
• auto_awesome Washed & Ready To Eat
• check Source of Vitamin A

Tomato sauce:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 x 400g tins crushed or cherry tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• ½ brown onion diced
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/4 cup basil leaves

Malfatti:

• 2 x 120g bags LeaderBrand Baby Spinach
• 500g ricotta
• 80g grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 100g flour
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ cup torn basil leaves
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

To Serve:

• LeaderBrand Wild Rocket
• Basil leaves
• ¼ cup grated parmesan