Anna Klinger's Malfatti The New York Times Magazine Amanda Hesser Yield: 4 - 6 servings as a light main course, 6 - 8 as a first course 1 lb. ricotta Kosher salt 4 bunches Swiss chard (about 4 lbs.) 8 oz. butter 1/4 cup flour, plus more for shaping 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 4 large egg yolks 1 large egg Freshly ground black pepper 24 fresh sage leaves Parmesan cheese for serving Drain the ricotta in a sieve lined with cheesecloth overnight in the refrigerator. Measure out 1 1/4 cups. Bring a large pot of water, heavily seasoned with salt, to a boil. Trim the chard, removing all stems and large ridges. Add half to the boiling water and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Fish out and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Repeat. Squeeze out chard with your hands. On a dish towel, spread the chard in a circle the size of a pie. Roll up the towel and have someone help you twist the ends to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Pulse in a food processor until fine. Squeeze out in a dish towel once more, until very dry. (You will have about 1 cup.) Melt half the butter. Mix chard and ricotta. Add melted butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1 heaping teaspoon salt and nutemeg and mix again. Drop in egg yolk and egg, season with pepper and stir again. Sprinkle a cutting board with flour. Shape into 1 oz. balls, about 1 Tbsp. each, dropping them on the cutting board. You should have 25 to 30. Put a tsp. of flour into a narrow wineglass. Drop in a ball and swirl until it forms an oval. Repeat. (You may need to change the glass.) You may freeze them at this point. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the malfatti and cook until they float, about 8 minutes. (If frozen, 10 minutes.) Put remaining butter in a small sauté pan and heat until bubbling, shaking the pan. When it smells nutty, add sage and cook 30 seconds. Season with salt. Drain malfatti and place on plates. Spoon on the butter and sage. Grate Parmesan over each plate. The title of this page is "Naked Came the Pasta". Anna Klinger is, or was, the chef at Al Di La Trattoria in Park Slope. This recipe is one of several VFC (very few carbohydrates) recipes I've included most of which are not in the Pasta category.Two things to remember - be sure the chard is really dry and use a good brand of fresh ricotta. Definitely not Polly-O. Or make your own. It's easy. See Sformata di Ricotta and Housemade Ricotta

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