Malfatti (Northern Italian Spinach Dumplings)

Instructions

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1. 1 In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter over medium heat with garlic until butter begins to foam. Add spinach a few handfuls at a time, tossing to wilt and adding more spinach as room becomes available, until all the spinach is in the pot. Season lightly with salt, then cook until spinach is fully wilted down and tender, about 5 minutes. Discard garlic and transfer spinach to a large mixing bowl to cool slightly (you should have about 3/4 to 1 pound of cooked spinach).
2. 2 Without rinsing pot, fill with water and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, when spinach is cool enough to handle, pick up a handful at a time and squeeze it firmly between your hands to remove excess liquid, then transfer the squeezed spinach to a work surface. When all the spinach is squeezed, chop it finely, then return it to the large mixing bowl. (After squeezing and chopping, the spinach should weigh 10 to 12 ounces and fill about 1 1/2 packed cups.)
3. 3 Add breadcrumbs, grated cheese, eggs, a generous grating of fresh nutmeg, and a generous grinding of black pepper. Season with salt, then, using your hands, thoroughly mix the malfatti mixture until very well incorporated. In the simmering water, cook a very small ball of the mixture until it floats, then taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
4. 4 Using your hands, form malfatti dough into tightly packed individual cylinders or torpedos about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches long (though they can be a range of sizes, from smaller sticks to hefty dumplings), and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. 5 When ready to cook malfatti, melt remaining 1 stick butter over medium heat in a large skillet until foaming. Add sage and fry, swirling pan often, until milk solids in butter turn a light brown color. Remove from heat and season lightly with salt. Note: This recipe makes a generous amount of malfatti and you may not want to cook them all at once; in fact, it's possible your skillet own't be big enough to accomodate the full batch in the butter sauce at one time, so you may want to divide the butter across two large pans if you're cooking the malfatti all at once, or cook what you plan to eat and save the rest for later (see make-ahead instructions below).
6. 6 In the pot of gently simmering water, add malfatti in batches, making sure not to overcrowd pot, and cook until all the malfatti are floating. Using a slotted spoon or spider skimmer, transfer malfatti to butter sauce or a serving platter (you can either fry them briefly in the butter sauce or go straight to the serving platter and pour the butter sauce on top). Repeat with the remaining malfatti. Note that it's important for the water to be at a gentle simmer; if it's boiling rapidly, it may break the malfatti (it's normal for the malfatti to slough off some bits of spinach and breading into the water, but they should hold together).
7. 7 If the malfatti are in the butter sauce, return to medium-high heat and gently fry in the butter, then carefully transfer to serving plates, and spoon butter sauce and sage leaves on top; if you put the malfatti directly on a serving platter, pour butter sauce and sage leaves on top. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve.