Ravioli

The method the filled pastas assume: sealing without air, and how thin is thin enough.

Egg. Not vegetarian — contains parmesan whose rennet the source does not name, ricotta whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour, ideally type 00
• 3 eggs
• 400 g ricotta, drained 12 hours
• 250 g spinach, cooked and squeezed very dry
• 80 g parmesan, grated
• 1 egg yolk, for the filling
• nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 80 g butter and sage, to dress

Method

1. Make the dough with 100 g of flour per egg, knead 10 minutes until it springs back, and REST IT AN HOUR WRAPPED. Unrested dough fights the pin and tears at the thinness you need.
2. DRAIN THE RICOTTA AND SQUEEZE THE SPINACH UNTIL GENUINELY DRY. Every filling fault in every stuffed pasta is water: it turns to steam, finds the seam, and opens it.
3. Mix the filling and chill it. A cold firm filling can be placed; a loose one smears and gets into the seal.
4. Roll the pasta until you can read print through it. Then roll it thinner. TWO LAYERS MEET AT EVERY SEAM, so a sheet that feels right on its own is twice as thick where it matters.
5. Place the filling in small mounds, well apart, and BRUSH NO WATER unless the dough has dried — fresh pasta seals to itself, and water makes a slippery join.
6. Lay the top sheet on and PRESS THE AIR OUT FROM THE FILLING OUTWARDS with your fingers before cutting. Trapped air expands in the water and bursts the ravioli — this single step is the difference between a tray that survives and one that empties into the pan.
7. Cut, then boil in barely simmering salted water 3 to 4 minutes. Dress with butter foamed with sage; a heavy sauce on something this delicate is wasted on both.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes