Malfatti (Ricotta Dumplings) in Chestnut Soup

I’m slowly making my way through the cookbook Spice by Ana Sortun, chef/owner of our favorite restaurant in Cambridge — Oleana. 

This soup makes a warm-you-up, rich treat for cold nights — a good excuse to buy chestnuts and use them for something other than roasting over an open fire and, of course, our favorite part… it delivers lots of cheese. Don’t skip finishing the soup with the Moscato wine. It really makes the dish.

Tip: Ana recommends buying flash-frozen peeled chestnuts because they can be difficult to peel — Specificallythese. I chose to peel the raw ones. It took some time but wasn’t torturous. I also altered a few things like trading the chicken stock for vegetable and reduced the amount of kale. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the Soup
4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 onion chopped, finely (about 1/2 cup)
1 stalk celery, chopped rough
2 cups peeled chestnuts
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup dry moscato wine

For the Malfatti
1 cup ricotta cheese strained for 10 minutes through a fine seive
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg plus more for garnish
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup flour plus more for dusting
2 cups chopped dinosaur kale (substitute plain kale, spinach or chard)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Put the Vegetable stock, soy sauce, onion, celery and chestnuts in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes or until the chestnuts are soft.

Using a stand mixer or big bowl and muscle whisk the ricotta cheese for abotu 3 minutes to amke it smooth and creamy. Add the egg and whisk for 20-30 seconds until incorporated. With a wooden spoon or spatula stir in the nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Stir in the 1/2 cup flour and then put the mixture in the refrigerator to chill.

Steam the kale until it is wilted and tender about 10 minutes. Drain the kale in a colander and once it is cooled down, chop it roughly. Next squeeze the kale in your fists to extract as much moisture as you can. You should half about 1/2 cup compressed balls of kale.

Place half the cooled chestnut soup and the 1/2 cup heavy cream into a blender and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine seive or Chinoise and then blend the remaining soup mixture and strain. Pour the straned mixture into a pot and warm over low heat.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil while preparing the Malfati. Also warm 4 soup bowls in an oven on low. Dust the counter with a good amount of flour and divide the ricotta mixture onto the floured surface by splitting it in two, then four, then eight. Roll the pieces in flour creating a ball shape.

Gently drop all 8 balls into the boiling water. Once they start to float they are done. With a spider or slotted spoon place a pair of balls into each of the warmed soup bowls. Mix the 1/2 cup Moscato and lemon juice into the warm soup and ladle it over the Malfatti until they are half submerged.

Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg. Enjoy.

Comments

[John Besh]

this blog would suck a lot less if someone updated it more. if you would make more dishes with foam-filled eggshells, it would also suck less.
i have to say, i did enjoy the organically shaped epic noodles and ramekins of pea.
thank you so much for the dinner.

[Lulu]

oh ,yeah.I really like this post, it has some great info. Thank you