In a pan, melt 1½ Tbsp. butter, add 1 smashed garlic clove, and then add the spinach. Sauté the greens gently for 5 minutes, turning them occasionally—this helps bump up their flavor and staves off additional moisture. Remove from the heat, discard the garlic, and set aside to let cool.cooked malfatti aside to drain.

Take a large bowl, and dump in 8 oz. fresh ricotta, 2 lightly beaten eggs, 3 oz. finely grated Parmesan, and reserved spinach. Add a pinch of nutmeg and a generous amount of salt and pepper and use a spatula to combine all the ingredients. Lastly, tip in 6 oz. all-purpose flour (about 1⅓ cups).  It’s important to always add the flour last—you’re after a silky, soft texture here, and adding the flour last prevents the dough from getting too dry. Now mix everything with your hands until you form a malleable dough ball (don’t worry if it’s still pretty sticky), about 3 minutes.

Once that’s done, start shaping your malfatti. Flour a work surface, then take pieces of dough and roll them into an oblong shape (think gnocchi, but a bit bigger and longer). Roll each malfatti into the flour as needed to prevent sticking, then place on a lightly floured baking sheet. You’ll get somewhere between 20–30 pieces. (You can also take the gnocchi approach: Divide the dough into four big pieces, roll each into a long log, and cut into nuggets.) Congratulations, you’ve just accomplished homemade pasta.

To cook the malfatti, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and drop them in. Once they rise to the surface (4–5 minutes), remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon or skimmer and transfer them into a saucepan where you’ll have your sauce going.

We will be serving over Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce.