Strozapretti with oven roasted cherry tomato sauce

Strozapretti, gnudi and Malfatti are some of the names of this popular Italian dish. This recipe has been on my list for sometime now and when i got a tub of ricotta last week i decided to give it a try.

This dish comes from Lombardy and actually means 'not pretty' in Italian. Now that is being ultra rude to this beautiful fluffy pillows which i thoroughly enjoyed making. Though they look like gnocchi they certainly are not dense and heavy . The fact that it uses very little flour more as a coating makes it super light and delectable.

I adapted this recipe from Delicious days and it was served with sauteed cherry tomatoes. Instead i made a super simple oven roasted tomato sauce and sauteed the spinach dumplings with the sauce and served it with loads of Parmesan flakes.

Loved the fruity flavour and sweetness of the sauce with the delightfully soft and light malfatti . I am sure this is a dish that i will be making very often.




Strozzapreti with sauteed cherry tomatoes

Recipe source: adapted from Delicious Days
Ingredients (serves 2-3):
200g spinach175g ricotta
30g grated Parmesan
1 egg
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
freshly ground nutmeg
flour for hands
50g butter
Oven roasted Cherry tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
to serve: grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper


1.Wash the spinach, remove bigger stems and cook or steam until soft. Let the spinach cool down, then squeeze out any excessive liquid and chop finely.
2.In a large bowl mix together spinach, ricotta, egg, grated Parmesan and season with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt and nutmeg.
3.Meanwhile heat a large pot of salted water.
4. Dust your hands with flour and take a spoonful of the mixture in your hand and flap it from one hand to the other to give it the proper shape and get rid of the extra flour. But you could also try to dust a spoonful (tbsp) of the mix with some flour and carefully roll it with your hands into the desired shape.
5.Now drop them carefully into the pot with the simmering water, in small batches. They are done, as soon as they float on the surface which takes about two to three minutes. Remove with a skimmer.
6.Heat some butter in a pan and add the Strozzapreti and some cherry tomato sauce and Saute for one or two minutes and shake the pan occasionally, then serve on a plate with freshly ground pepper and grated Parmesan.





Oven Roasted Cherry tomato sauce :

1 bag of cherry tomatoes washed and halved

3 garlic finely minced

1/3 cup olive oil

sea salt to taste

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

freshly cracked pepper to taste.

1. Toss all the ingredients together and place it in a dish and put in a moderate oven (180) for about 50 Min's .



Malfatti Served.....