Well made malfatti

 The story goes that years ago in Napa, a woman was making ravioli. She ran out of pasta, however, before she ran out of filling. So she rolled the filling into little balls, then rolled them in flour, and boiled them just like you would ravioli. Malfatti is Italian for 'badly made'. They were an occasional treat for me growing up in Napa, CA. There are two places in Napa that sell them and people will sometimes line up outside the stores with their large sauce pots and wait for their order.

Now, as you might know, the love of my life is diabetic. He can't tolerate a lot of carbohydrates so pasta is generally out. But I'm Italian and pasta sauce is a staple for me.

As you might also know, we're planning a wedding. A wedding where we will be cooking for our guests. Cooking for 40 people requires us to make food that reheats well. Malfatti should reheat well in a crockpot, it's low carb, and should be relatively easy to make ahead of time. So here's my first attempt at malfatti.

 Ingredients

• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 bunches spinach
• A handful of basil
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Directions

Steam the spinach and press out all of the water. Then press out all of the water again. Now press out all of the water again. Yes, really. Getting as much of the water as possible out of the spinach is absolutely essential.

Chop the spinach and the basil and mix it with the rest of the ingredients. The mixture should be semi-sticky but relatively dry. It should feel a bit like thin cookie dough.

Sprinkle some flour on a plate or a counter. Take small walnut sized balls of filling and roll them in the flour. The malfatti I made tonight were round, but the ones I grew up with were longer and thinner. I'd recommend the thinner version.

All you need to do now is boil some water in a large pot. Drop the malfatti in and wait for them to float. Once they float, they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve with pasta sauce.

I do need to vary the filling mix a bit, but we just might have found another dish for our wedding.