Our Summer Dumplings

(Malfatti / Kładzione / Leniwe / Nocken / Quenelles)

The beauty of this recipe is that the exact proportions don't really matter. You make it by feel, adjusting as you go, and somehow it always works — that's part of its charm.

 

It's also perfect for summer, when you want to spend minutes in preparation and be rewarded with delicious comfort food. This is our own home creation, somewhere between traditional Polish Leniwe  (inspired by Mariusz Mac) and rustic Italian malfatti (inspired by Matteo Zielonka): soft, cheesy, fragrant with fresh herbs and lemon. And finally, you can serve it savoury or sweet, depending on the mood.

 

It has, after all, become more like kluski kładzione (spooned or dropped — the dough is scooped and dropped straight into the water rather than carefully shaped) — fast and fun rather than fussy.

Ingredients

(flexible — adjust by feel)

  • Fresh white cheese or ricotta or fresh goat cheese or or any similar.
  • 1–2 eggs
  • Parmesan or Peccorino, grated
  • Lemon zest (or preserved lemon)
  • Fresh basil, parsley or chives chopped (any blend is good)
  • A small spoon of olive oil, salt and pepper
  • Plain flour  or semola (de grano duro),  2–3 spoons
  • For the sweet version:  burnt butter, seasonal fruit (blueberries are perfect, or something slightly tart and sweet like blackberries)

Method

1. Mix the cheese with 1-2 eggs. Add the Parmesan, lemon zest, basil, mint, olive oil, salt, and pepper. The ingredients here are very flexible.

 

2. Add semola or normal flour, little by little, that's enough to bind the mixture, keeping it soft and delicate rather than a stiff dough.

 

3. Let the mixture rest for 20–30 minutes, giving the flour time to absorb some of the moisture, though it's fine to skip this if you're short on time. We never wait.

 

4. Bring a pot of well-salted water to a gentle simmer. Use a small spoon to scoop up a bit of the mixture, and keep on pushing it straight into the water in loose, messy shapes — the same way you'd make Polish kluski kładzione.  Don't worry about making them look neat. They're malfatti, after all — "badly made," by name and by nature.

 

5. Cook until they float to the surface, then give them another minute before lifting them out with a slotted spoon. Place them on an oiled plate while cooking.

 

6. Serve immediately with good olive oil and plenty of Parmesan, or finish with brown butter and sage.

 

For a sweet finish: skip the herbs and Parmesan in step 1 and cook the dumplings the same way. Serve warm in brown butter with blueberries, Mariusz Mac's way — or swap in blackberries for something a little more tart.

Simple, forgiving and deeply comforting — a little bit Polish, a little bit Italian, and very much made by instinct.