Nothing more satifsying than having your own home made ravioli! They can be prepared in advance and frozen of course. I'll give you the recipe for the dough, the filling and the sauce. Ready to tuck in!
Ingredients (makes about 60 ravioli):
For the ravioli dough:
200gr flour (you can use 200gr plain flour of course, but I use this mix as it keeps "al dente" better, although it takes a little longer to cook: 100gr plain flour at 9.7gr protein, and 100gr finely ground semolina at 12.5gr protein)
2 eggs
5 gr fine salt
For the filling:
150gr frozen spinach
3 garlic cloves
2 slugs olive oil
70gr ricotta cheese
30gr grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
NO salt (spinach is quite salty on its own)
For the sauce:
2 garlic cloves
2 slugs olive oil
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves
Method:
Mix the flour, eggs and salt well until combined on your kitchen counter
Work the dough with the ball and palm of your hands for a full 5 mins so that the gluten develops well
Shape the dough in a ball and wrap it tightly in clingfilm - let it rest on the counter for a minimum of 30 mins, max 2 hours
For the filling: chop the garlic and stir fry it with the olive oil for a minute or two
Add the frozen spinach and cover, let it cook for 5-10 mins maximum checking very often and stirring for the spinach not to stick to the bottom and the garlic not to brown
The spinach will defrost quickly: as soon as it's defrosted, add the nutmeg and the black pepper
Uncover and stir until all the liquid, if any, has been absorbed and it's all quite dry, then set aside
For the sauce: chop the garlic and stir fry it with the olive oil until golden
Add immediately the chopped tomoatoes and stir well
Add the salt and the pepper
Cover the pot and let it simmer on a medium/low heat for 10-15 mins
Stir after a few minutes and keep checking that it doesn't stick to the bottom
Wash and chop the fresh basil leaves
After 10 mins add half the basil and leave it uncovered if not thick enough (but stir it every now and then)
As soon as it's ready set it aside
Now that the spinach is at room temperature, put it into a food processor
Add the ricotta and parmisan and pulse it until it's mixed through
Dust the counter with some semolina, then cut half the ball of dough (leave the rest wrapped up in clingfilm) and obtain an oblong shape with your rolling pin, 0.5cm thick and not too wide or too long: you'll need to pass it through the pasta machine
Fix your pasta machine to the table, then slowly feed the oblong sheet through the thickest setting of the roller: number 1
Then fold the resulting shape in three, gently press it with your hands, and feed it through the rollers at number 1 again
Repeat for 3 times, always at number 1: this will give strength to your pasta
TIP: always slightly dust your sheet with semolina over and under before feeding it through the rollers, but dust off the excess.
Now reduce the thickness of the rollers progressively: to number 2, then 4, then 6
TIP: the machine goes to number 9, but, although there are no set rules for thickness, I find that number 6 or 7 is thin enough
At this point I cheat and use the ravioli mould: I dust the mould with some semolina, then I drape the sheet over it ensuring to press the pasta into the niches so that the filling can get there
Then repeat the process for the top sheet: make your oblong sheet, work it through number 1 three times, then reach your number 6-7 thickness on the pasta machine
Use 1/2 a tsp of filling for each ravioli, trying to keep it clean between the various fillings and ensuring that the top of the filling is level with the sides of the moud (no "mountain tops" here)
Wet a pastry brush with some water and brush the pasta between the fillings so that the top sheet will stick
Now carefully lay the top sheet over your mould: go quite slow here, as you need to make sure to press slightly each mould so that there's no air trapped before the sheet reaches the other side of the ravioli, encasing it
Once the top sheet is all laid out and the space between the ravioli has been nicely pressed with your fingers, use the rolling pin for a final press all over
At this point you can use a dented wheel or a knife and cut out your ravioli
TIP: If you don't have a ravioli mould, you can simply put 1/2 a tsp of filling onto your dough sheet ensuring to leave 2cm of space between the various bits on each side
As for when you are using the mould, wet a pastry brush with some water and brush the pasta between the fillings so that the top sheet will stick
Now carefully lay the top sheet over your sheet with the various ravioli fillingsu: go quite slow here, as you need to make sure to press slightly each mould so that there's no air trapped before the sheet reaches the other side of the ravioli, encasing it
Now use a dented wheel or a knife and cut out your ravioli
TIP: You can either cook them immediately, or wait an hour or two (but see below for cooking them), or you can freeze them on a tray, and once hardened store them in food bags in the freezer
Bring to the boil a lot of salted water, then cook your ravioli keeping in mind the following:
If you used just plain flour, and if you're cooking there and then, the ravioli will be ready 1 minute from when they come floating to the surface
If you are using my flour mix, or if they've been waiting an hour or so and are therefore a little dry, then wait 3 mins after they come floating to the surface
If you are cooking them from frozen, wait 1 min after they float, or 3 mins if those frozen were made using my flour mix
IN ALL CASES you need to taste them before draining them, as home made pasta cooking times do vary a lot
While the ravioli cook, re-heat the sauce, then add the remaining basil
Dress the ravioli immediately after cooking
Optional: you can add a few spoonfuls of fresh ricotta onto this dish, it will be delicious, although I personally like just a little bit of grated parmesan on top