Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Lemon Butter Sauce
Handrolled spinach and ricotta ravioli in a rich lemon and butter sauce.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Pasta dough
- 250 g eggs 3 - 4 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks
- 400 g white 00 flour
- 50 g semolina flour
- 1 tsp salt
Spinach and ricotta filling
- 250 g ricotta strained and patted dry
- 3/4 cup parmeson grated
- 200 g fresh baby spinach
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- salt and pepper
Lemon butter sauce
- 100 g salted butter
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Spinach and ricotta filling
- In a large fry pan on a high heat, cook your baby spinach with a pinch of salt and pepper until it has wilted entirely. Transfer to a colander and drain out as much liquid as possible. Set to the side to cool and then roughly chop.
- Combine all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well with a large spoon. Keep your filling covered in the fridge until ready to use.
Ravioli
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the white 00 flour, semolina and salt. Place the flour onto a pasta board or clean surface and make a well in the middle of the flour with your fist or the bottom of your mixing bowl that is deep and wide enough to hold the eggs.
- Place your eggs into the middle of the flour well and whisk together with a fork. When you’re whisking your eggs, slowly combine the flour from the edges of where the eggs are sitting and whisk through with the eggs until a thick, custard-like paste forms. When you can no longer whisk the flour and egg with a fork, bring the flour from the edges into the well with your hands or a pasta scraper and begin to knead the dough into a ball.
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes until a firm smooth dough ball forms that is moist and not sticky. Every dough is different so you will need to go by feel.
- Place your dough into a bowl and cover well with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Leave to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Uncover your dough and cut off a quarter piece. Cut that piece in half and keep the rest of the dough covered so it does not dry out. Place your dough onto a lightly floured pasta board or bench surface. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a rectangular shape that is 3mm thick. Roll the dough through a pasta machine on the widest setting (number 7 on my pasta machine). Fold the dough in half and roll it through again. Roll the dough through a narrower setting twice and fold the dough in half for the second time (number 4 or 5 on my pasta machine). Finally, roll the dough on the second narrowest setting (number 2 on my pasta machine) until you have a long rectangular pasta sheet that is roughly 10cm wide. Dust the pasta sheet with flour, cover with a towel and set to the side while you repeat this step with the remainder of the dough.
- Place your ravioli filling into a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag you can simply spoon the filling onto the ravioli sheets for this step. Starting from the edge of the pasta sheet leaving a 5cm boarder, begin to pipe a 20cent piece of filling into the centre, leaving a 5cm gap between each piece of filling. Pipe along the entirety of the pasta sheet until there is no more space.
- Wet your index finger with water and dampen the boarder of the dough and in between the filling. Use a second piece of pasta sheet and lay over the pasta sheet with the filling. Press firmly around the edges and in between the filling to remove any air bubbles. I use a small shot glass that I place over the filling to help shape it into a nice circle shape and help to remove air bubbles.
- Using a ravioli cutter, cut your ravioli shapes around the filling. I cut mine into large squares. Try and make them the same size so they cook evenly.
- Place your ravioli onto a baking tray that has been lightly floured with semolina flour and cover with a towel as you continue to make the remainder of ravioli.
Lemon and butter sauce
- In a pot of heavily salted water, cook your ravioli until the begin to rise to the top.
- In a large fry pan on a medium heat, melt the butter. When the butter starts to foam, add in the lemon zest and pinch of salt. Swirl around in the pan for 1 - 2 minutes and then add the cooked ravioli into the sauce with a slotted spoon ensuring some pasta water is added to the sauce. Turn the heat to low and cook for 1 minute. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and sprinkling of parmeson.
Notes
Please note, the lemon and butter sauce is only for two servings of ravioli (12 pieces).
