I have wonderful memories of making spinach and ricotta malfatti (best described as wonderfully light, wonkily formed, fresh gnocchi-type dumplings) from the late, great Russell Norman’s Venice cookbook. He suggests forming them by dropping them into a wine glass of polenta, swirling the glass to coat each malfatti, then poaching. I made them for my parents’ first visit to our new home, and encouraged everyone to get involved by swirling their own; I also made them for weaning (with a little less salt) and got my daughter, Alba, involved as soon as she was old enough to hold a wine glass. They’re that good. But now, with not one but two toddlers to contend with, I make life a lot easier by turning them into fritters, and use up the insane quantities of chard from the garden at the same time. This is my homage to Russell’s original.
Malfatti fritters with chard and sage butter
Prep 20 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 2-3
350g chard
100g parmesan, grated (a vegetarian one, if need be)
250g ricotta
100g flour
1 medium egg
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Olive oil, for frying
25g salted butter
15 sage leaves
Wash the chard, then put it in a microwaveable bowl for which you have a lid (I use a Pyrex bowl with a snugly fitting plate on top). Cook on high for two minutes, stir, then return to the microwave and cook for another two minutes.
Drain the chard, then, once it’s cool enough to handle, squeeze to remove most of the excess water. Tip the chard into a food processor and chop into small pieces – you don’t want a puree, but neither do you want any great big lumps. Add the parmesan, ricotta, flour, egg and salt, then blitz briefly until everything’s just combined.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large, nonstick frying pan. Turn down the heat to medium, then, working in batches, fry heaped tablespoons of the malfatti mix for two to three minutes on each side, until evenly golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen roll, and repeat with the remaining malfatti batter (keep the cooked fritters warm in a low oven, if you wish).
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small frying pan on a low heat, then add the sage leaves. Turn up the heat to medium, and fry for two to three minutes, until the leaves are lovely and crisp and the butter has browned. (Do watch this, though, and adjust the heat so the butter doesn’t burn.)
Serve the malfatti fritters drizzled with the sage butter. They need very little else alongside, but sparkling water or wine would work well.
