Recipe by Amanda Lambert
Photos by Camie Leard
There is nothing more satisfying than being able to make homemade pasta. It tastes so much better and fresher than its store-bought counterpart to say nothing of the pride you’ll feel once you’ve mastered the art and it’s on the dinner table for your family or guests.
If you’re already a pasta-making pro, it’s time to try your hand at a recipe that will definitely wow the crowd. This dish is a little more time consuming and difficult to make compared to everyday pasta, but the oohs and ahhs at the table are well worth it.
Make the raviolis ahead of time if need be: they are good to sit in the fridge for up to two days.
Note: Using a pasta maker is really the only way to make the pasta thin enough for the recipe to work well. You can find excellent pasta makers at the Italian Centre Shop.
Makes 16 large ravioli
Pasta dough
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups "00" flour (600 ml)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (15 ml)
- 1 tsp kosher salt (5 ml)
Instructions
- Place the flour in a mound on a large cutting board. Use your fingers to create a well in the middle of the flour mound. Add the eggs in the center o the well. Sprinkle the salt and drizzle the olive oil on top of the eggs.
- Use a fork to whisk the eggs until they are combined. Then begin to gradually whisk some of the flour into the eggs adding slowly until the egg mixture is thick. Use your hands to fold in the rest of the flour until it forms a loose ball. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic, sprinkling some extra flour on the cutting board if needed to prevent sticking or if the dough seems too wet or sticky. If the dough seems too dry, add in a little water, but you want the dough to be fairly dry.
- Form the dough into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. The dough should be smooth. Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Take ¼ of the dough and run it through a pasta machine a few times on each number setting until long and very thin. Cut 8 cm (3-inch) squares out of the dough using a knife. Repeat with the remaining three parts of dough.
Fried sage
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (125 ml)
- 10 fresh sage leaves
Instructions
- Put the oil into a small sauce pot over low — medium heat. Test the oil by adding a pinch of salt to the oil. If it spitters right away, it’s ready.
- Very carefully put the sage leaves into the oil. Use an oil splatter guard or the lid of a sauce pot quickly after dropping the sage. It will spitter out.
- Leave the sage in the oil to fry for about 15 seconds. Remove and place on a paper towel to dry. This well help keep the crispness.
Brown butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (125 ml)
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley (15 ml)
- 1 tsp lemon juice (5 ml)
Instructions
- Preheat a small saucepan over medium heat, once the pan is hot, add the butter. It should sizzle right away. Swish the butter around until it smells nutty and you see the color changed to a light brown.
- Add the parsley, lemon juice and salt. Continue to stir the butter the butter will turn golden brown. Some foam will subside and the milk solids at the bottom of the pan will be toasty brown. Remove from heat and use right away.
Assembly
Place 15 ml (1 Tbsp) of the ricotta mixture in the center of one pasta sheet and with your fingers make a small indent in the middle of the mixture. Carefully place one egg yolk in the center. Egg wash around the mixture.
Very gently put a pasta sheet on top. Using your fingers press around the mixture until it is closed and all air bubbles are out. Be careful not to break the yolk.
Place in a slotted spoon and gently drop into simmering water as many raviolis as comfortably fit in your pot without the yolks overlapping (generally 2-3) for about 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon.
Drizzle with brown butter, bacon, and fried sage. Buon Appetito!
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