A simple dish that drives home the impact of quality products. A short list of basic ingredients like ricotta cheese, spinach, egg yolk, and cheese. From Maxine Clark’s “Flavors of Tuscany,” this dish brings home the warmth of Tuscany: Malfatti in brodo. Malfatti = badly formed. Brodo = broth. Maxine suggests that handling the dough as little as possible creates a lighter gnocchi. I used my hands to mix everything together, but you may benefit from using a food processor.

But if your gnocchi are truly “badly formed,” then rest assured you’re probably doing it right.

Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi in Lemon Broth

from Maxine Clark's "Flavors of Tuscany"

Ingredients for 2 servings
5 oz of frozen spinach, thawed (or 14 oz fresh spinach)
1 tablespoon butter
half a shallot, chopped
finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon*, separated into halves
2.5 oz fresh ricotta, sieved
2.5 tablespoons plain flour (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 egg yolk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, plus more to serve
freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Recipe summary (see video for specifics): If using fresh spinach, cook it down. Squeeze excess water out of thawed or fresh cooked spinach and roughly chop. Cook shallot and add spinach & lemon zest. Mix with egg yolk, flour, cheese, ricotta. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste. Mix again. Let sit in frig for 2 hours or overnight. Bring stock to a boil with lemon zest. Strain. Shape gnocchi and boil.

*If using lemon oil (from the peel) rather than zest, use scant 1/8th of a teaspoon and stir directly into flour/egg/cheese mixture.