Handmade Malfatti

By stancec44

Delicious. Malfatti - literally 'badly made' are not as tricky to shape as you think.

Special equipment (if you can call it that); several pieces of cheesecloth

Ingredients

• 1 c. flour
• 2 c. whole-milk fresh ricotta, preferably box drained
• 1 lg. egg, room temp.
• 6 oz. Parmesan, finely grated, plus more for serving
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more
• 4 oz. pancetta, thinly sliced
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil (good stuff is best), plus more for drizzling
• 2 c. Sun Gold and/or cherry tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 lemon

Preparation

Step 1

Dust a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet generously with flour; set aside.

Place ricotta in the center of cheesecloth. Gather up the sides in your hands and wring out excess liquid. (Note: be gentle, as ricotta will ALSO squeeze out if you are not careful). Transfer ricotta to a few sheets of paper towels and pat dry with more paper towels.

Pulse ricotta, egg, 6 oz. Parmesan, and 1 1/2 tsp. salt in a food processor to combine. Transfer to a large bowl; sift in 1 c. flour and mix until just barely combined (try not to over mix). Scrape ricotta mixture onto a floured surface and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a 22 x 3/4" rope. Cut into 3/4" pieces and place dumplings onto prepared baking sheet.

Combine pancetta and 3 Tbsp. oil in a cold large skillet and place over medium heat. (I warmed up a large cast iron skillet instead and then brought it to med heat after I put pancetta in skillet.). Cook, stirring often, until pancetta is brown and crisp, 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl; reserve skillet and contents.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a simmer (do not let it boil). Working in batches if needed, cook dumplings until they expand in size and float to the surface, about 3 minutes. (Remove them to a parchment-lined tray if cooking in batches.)

Ladle about 3/4 c. dumpling cooking liquid into reserved skillet and add dumplings, tomatoes and butter. Put back on burner, bring to med-high heat and cook, stirring gently (don't toss) until sauce thickens slightly and coats dumplings, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Divide malfatti amoung bowls. Finely grate lemon zest over, drizzle with olive oil and top with pancetta and Parmesan.