Since I was a little kid I, pasta used to be my favorite dish: all different kinds; boxed pasta, tri-colored pasta, homemade pasta... I loved every kind and I still do. But my favorite is the homemade one. My grandmother used to prepare pasta in summer and dried it so that we could use it through autumn. I did not want to cook the pasta because I wanted the pasta to last forever since it was sooo delicious.
A couple of months ago, I bought a pasta machine for a really good deal but unfortunately it doesn't work properly anymore. So, my father bought a pasta rolling set for my stand mixer which I have been loving it since the first time I used it.
Today I am going to share a ravioli recipe that was inspired from a restaurant called "Carluccio's". Whenever I go there, I order the classic ravioli and I just love it. I wanted to try that at home for a while and this weekend was the perfect time.
Ravioli is not hard to make but it takes some time. However as much as time and effort you put in, the dish will get more and more delicious. So, I highly recommend that you spare some time on weekend to cook some ravioli. Plus it is a great cause to get your friends and family in the kitchen and help you. They can easily cut the ravioli for you while you are working on other batches.
I hope you'll enjoy these raviolis and I can guarantee that you will because mine were gone in 10 minutes. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
For the pasta dough
3 eggs
300 g. flour
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
For the filling
175 g. ricotta cheese
Freshly grated parmesan
150 g. frozen uncooked spinach, defrosted
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic
Basil
Salt and pepper
For the sauce
50 g. butter
Sage leaves
salt if needed
For the topping
Freshly grated parmesan
Directions:
1) Sift the flour on to a clean kitchen counter. Make a well and crack the eggs into the middle of the well. Add a pinch of salt and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. By using a fork, whisk the eggs and incorporate some of the flour from the sides of the well. Make sure that you don't break the well otherwise the eggs will run off from your counter.
2) When your eggs and the flour mixture have a thick consistency, cover the mixture with the flour from the sides of the well and start kneading the dough. Work the dough for about 5-7 minutes until you have a smooth pasta dough. Wrap in cling film and rest the dough in the fridge for about 1 hour.
3) While your pasta dough is resting, prepare your filling. Take a medium mixing bowl and add the ricotta cheese and by using a fork, mash the cheese so that it will be easier for us to mix with the other filling ingredients. Grate some parmesan cheese onto the ricotta. Chop the basil very thinly and add to the ricotta.
4) In a medium pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil. When the pan is hot, add in the defrosted spinach and sauté for couple of minutes with some garlic. Turn off the heat and add some freshly grated nutmeg for an amazing flavor.
5) Take a sieve and make sure that you get rid go the excess water. This step is crucial. If you use wet spinach, your pasta dough will break and your raviolis will explode in water.
6) After you drained the water, chop the spinach very thinly and then add in to the ricotta mixture. Mix the filling well and season with some more salt if needed.
7) Take the dough from the fridge and divide it into 4 equal pieces. Take one piece and cover the other 3 with cling film again. Flatten the piece and flour both sides. By using a pasta roller attachment /machine or a rolling pin, roll the pasta thin.
If you are using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment like I do here, start from 1 and go up to 5. I flatten the dough from each numbered setting twice so that it is smooth and thin enough. Also do not forget to flour both sides of the pasta sheet between intervals.
8) Lay the sheet on the counter and cut from the top and the bottom and from the sides of the dough so that you have a perfect rectangle that you can easily work with. Place small dollops of filling on to the dough and brush one long side of the dough with water. Take the back part of the dough and fold it over. Then make sure that there is no air in the raviolis.
9) Cut with a ravioli wheel and place them on a floured surface or a tray. Continue with other pieces of dough.
10) Boil a generous amount of water in a large pot and add salt. I also drizzled a little bit of olive oil so that the raviolis do not stick to each other. Add in the raviolis when the water is boring and cook for 3-4 minutes, until al dente.
11) Melt some butter in a pan and add some sage leaves for flavour. When the pasta is cooked directly add them to the butter using a colander or a slotted spoon and shake the pan until the pasta is covered with the butter. Cook the raviolis for about 1-2 minutes.
12) Transfer them to a plate and generously sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Enjoy.
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