Anna Klinger's Malfatti (gnocchi Gnudi)

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb ricotta cheese (use good quality)
• kosher salt
• 4 bunches swiss chard (about 4 pounds)
• 8 ounces butter
• 1/4 cup flour, plus more for shaping
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• fresh ground black pepper
• 24 fresh sage leaves
• parmesan cheese, for serving

Recipe

• 1 drain the ricotta in a sieve lined with cheesecloth overnight in the refrigerator.
• 2 measure out 1 1/4 cups.
• 3 bring a large pot of water to boil.
• 4 trim the chard, removing all the stems and large ridges.
• 5 add half to boiling water and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.
• 6 fish out and plunge into a bowl of ice water.
• 7 repeat.
• 8 squeeze out chard with your hands.
• 9 on a dish towel, spread the chard in a circle the size of a pie.
• 10 roll up the towel and have someone help you twist the end to squeeze out as much moisture as possible.
• 11 (this step is very important... wet chard makes for sodden malfatti) pulse in a food processor until fine.
• 12 squeeze out in a dish towel once more, until very dry.
• 13 you will have about one cup.
• 14 melt half the butter.
• 15 mix chard and ricotta.
• 16 add melted butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1 heaping teaspoon salt and nutmeg and mix again.
• 17 drop in egg yolks and egg, season with pepper and stir again.
• 18 sprinkle a cutting board with flour.
• 19 shape into 1-ounce balls, about 1 tablespoon each, dropping them on the cutting board.
• 20 you should have 25-30 balls.
• 21 put a teaspoon of flour into a narrow wineglass.
• 22 drop in a ball and swirl until it forms an oval.
• 23 repeat (you may need to change the glass).
• 24 youmay freeze them at this point.
• 25 do not thaw: take directly from freezer and place into boiling water.
• 26 boil for about 10 minutes.
• 27 ]bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
• 28 drop in the malfatti and cook until they float, about 8 minutes.
• 29 put remaining butter into a small saute pan and heat until bubbling, shaking the pan.
• 30 when it smells nutty, add sage and cook for 30 seconds.
• 31 season with salt.
• 32 drain malfatti and place on plates.
• 33 spoon on the butter and sage.
• 34 grate fresh parmesan over each plate.