CookEat Recipe
Malfattini in Brodo
Very fine handmade egg-pasta crumbs simmered in broth, with optional breadcrumb and vegetable variations.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 200 g plain flour, with a little more only if needed; 2 eggs; About 1.5 litres ready-to-use broth.
Step 2
Work the flour and eggs together by hand into a very firm dough. Knead until evenly combined. If the eggs are unusually large, add only enough extra flour to keep the dough firm. Cover and chill for about 20 minutes to make grating easier.
Step 3
Using the small holes of a clean grater, grate the firm dough into tiny crumbs about half the size of a grain of rice. Pass through a suitable coarse sieve to separate the finest crumbs and grate any larger pieces again. Keep the pieces small and fairly even.
Step 4
Bring the broth to a gentle boil, add the malfattini and cook until tender and cooked through, about 3–5 minutes, with the soup at least 74°C. Serve immediately. Cook the fresh egg dough the same day or freeze promptly rather than leaving it out to dry for hours.
Step 5
For the breadcrumb version, replace the flour with fine dry breadcrumbs, starting with about 150 g for the two eggs and adjusting slightly to a firm grateable mixture. A small pinch of Parmesan and mixed spice may be added if desired. Chill, grate finely and cook in the broth as above.
Step 6
For the pea option, gently cook 25 g finely chopped pancetta, half a chopped garlic clove and a little parsley in 1 teaspoon olive oil. When the garlic begins to colour, add 150 g shelled peas, a little salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Add a little broth and simmer until tender, about 10–15 minutes depending on the peas. Add the cooked peas and their juices to the soup before the pasta.
Step 7
Finely chopped chard may be added on its own or with the peas: use about 100 g washed chard, chop tender stems especially finely and simmer in the broth until tender before adding the pasta. A little chopped dill is an optional flavouring for the chard. These vegetable options can accompany either the flour or breadcrumb malfattini.
Cooked it? Rate it.
Cooked 0 times