Ravioli

Wouldn’t it be nice to come home to a lovely plate of freshly made pasta? Well my boyfriend begs me not to make it. Mainly because I insist on including my favourite ingredient: swearing. A lot. It takes a while for the pasta to get a grip and behave. However, with a few strops, it always turns out perfectly delicious!

The sauce:

Personally, I haven’t found my favourite ravioli filling but I adore serving it with a garlic, sage and walnut ‘beurre noisette’. It’s so simple- just melt the butter until it’s beginning to bubble gently. Then add a crushed clove of garlic and a handful of crumbled walnuts (I crunch them in my hands). Just as they’re cooking gently, add about five chopped sage leaves and take them off the heat once they’ve crisped up a bit. This sauce is so earthy and savoury that you’ll feel like a pig sniffing for truffles!

The filling:

I’ve made butternut squash filling before, just be careful because if it’s under seasoned, it’ll taste like baby food. To remedy this, I would add a bit of blue cheese to complement the walnuts and sage sauce.

Another thing I like to do is stuff my ravioli with leftover ragu. This is perfect for when you get left with an awkward amount (as in not enough for another meal but a gross amount just to eat on your own!)

The pasta:

Jamie Oliver knows his stuff and this recipe is adapted from the website listed below.

6 large free-range eggs
600 g Tipo ’00’ flour

Make a well in the centre of your flour and pour the beaten eggs into it.
I use the kitchen mixer to incorporate the flour and the eggs (I use the dough hook). However, you can bind it all together in a mixing bowl.
You need to knead this for a while (as if you were kneading bread dough). You’ll know it’s ready when it becomes silky to touch.
Wrap it tight in cling film and pop the dough in the fridge for half an hour.
Now for step five- make sure you have a nice long table or clear counter and hide any children before the swearing commences! Secure the pasta machine and put a cloth underneath it so it doesn’t dig into your surface. Mr Oliver says you don’t need a pasta machine but I really don’t see how that work! They’re not expensive!
Cut the dough in half to make life easier and wrap the other half. Now sprinkle flour on your surface and the pasta machine and start passing the dough through at the thickest setting (roll it into an even sausage). I pass it through a few times until it’s adjusted to the setting.
Put the machine on the next setting and fold the sheet of pasta in half. Pass through until it has got used to the new setting.
Keep on repeating this until the pasta is lovely and thin. Repeat for the half covered in cling film.
Dot a generous teaspoon of mixture along half the sheet of pasta. Brush around the blob of filling to help seal the pasta. Now drape the other half over it. Remember the draping half needs to be bigger because it flops over the blobs of filling.
I gently press around the blob of filling to push any air out and then cut the ravioli. I just use a cookie cutter but if you have a ravioli wheel, use that.
Put your ravioli on a flour-dusted sheet of baking paper until ready to boil (I think they get sticky if just popped on a plate).
To cook: use a large pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Pop the ravioli in a couple at a time and give them about 2.5 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they’re floating and the pasta looks shiny.
Drain, serve and plate up!