January 17, 2018
For Christmas we were lucky enough to get a gift that will keep on giving for years to come: a pasta maker and ravioli kit. Yes, my partners brother and sister in law know us too well, and even though I suggested getting us some serving bowls, they decided we would like this better. They were totally right! We learnt how to make pasta when we were in Italy last year, and since then because we didn’t have a pasta maker, we haven’t been able to put our skills to the test! I kept meaning to borrow one, but I kept forgetting about it, and by then we’d already be onto making something else, or being naughty and ordering take out yet again.
So now that we have a pasta maker, I decided this weekend was the weekend to put what we learnt in the hills of San Gimignano to the test, and make some delicious pasta! In our cooking class which you can find here if you’re interested (seriously it was so good, I highly recommend it if you are in Tuscany), we learnt how to make an incredible spinach and ricotta ravioli with a burnt butter sauce. All the food we made was absolutely amazing, but I decided to give ravioli a go again because we got given a ravioli kit, and I am honestly still in shock at how simple it is to make! I always thought it was quite complex, but it isn’t as hard as it looks! It all comes down to the filling, and as long as you have something tasty in there, you are pretty much good to go!
This time I decided to mix it up a bit and try a different filling to the one we learnt in Italy. We got some delicious pumpkin at the market, and I thought this would go beautifully with the burnt butter sauce. Who doesn’t love the flavours of sage, butter and pumpkin? No one, that’s who! So I sort of made up a filling for the ravioli, and mixed up the sauce a bit, and the result was so good, I couldn’t keep it to myself. Seriously, this recipe is out of control good. It was so good that we thought we would have lots of leftovers, but we all stuffed ourselves full and ended up eating 5 peoples worth of ravioli between 4! Very easy to do when it is so tasty!
Pasta is such a fun thing to make. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not something I feel like I could be bothered to make all the time, given that it is so easy to buy in the packet. But when you make the effort to make the fresh pasta yourself, nothing compares. It is so good when you’ve made it yourself, and totally worth all the extra effort. Its also great getting everyone into the kitchen to join in and make it together. We invited my partner’s brother and sister in law over to christen the pasta maker, and it was great all cooking together and making the pasta. Plus we got to enjoy the pasta at the end, so it never seems all that bad when you get such a good reward!
- 500 grams plain flour
- 5 large eggs
- 1/2 pumpkin, chopped with skin and seeds removed
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan
- 150 grams butter
- 20 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
- 3 slices prosciutto, diced
- 2 tbsp water
- salt and pepper, to taste
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Add the plain flour to a bowl and make a well. Add the eggs to the well, and whisk with a spoon to beat. Using your fingers, gradually mix the flour into the egg mixture, until the flour and eggs are completely combined.
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Turn the pasta dough out onto a floured surface. Kneed with your hands until the dough goes from being rough to smooth - this should take anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes of kneeding. Once smooth, make into a ball, cover in cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the pumpkin pieces on the tray along with the garlic cloves. Roughly chop the thyme and rosemary, and sprinkle over the pumpkin. Drizzle with olive oil, and add some salt and pepper to taste. Place the pumpkin in the oven for 40 minutes, or until slightly blackened and soft. When the pumpkin is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
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To make the filling for the ravioli, place the pumpkin, herbs and garlic in a bowl along with the baby spinach. Blend with a stick blender until smooth, and fold in the parmesan cheese to combine. Set aside.
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To make the ravioli, place the dough on a floured surface and cut into pieces. Roll out slightly before placing each piece in the pasta maker, rolling through until it has gone through the second last setting on your pasta maker.
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To make the ravioli, I used a ravioli tray, but you can cut it yourself. Get one piece of dough and place small teaspoons of the pumpkin mixture in spots across the dough, leaving a few centimetres between each. If you are using a ravioli tray, press the dough into the tray after flouring, and then place teaspoons of the mixture in each indent, being careful not to over fill. Using a pastry brush, spread a little bit of water around each circle of filling. Get another rolled out piece of dough, and cover the initial piece with it, pressing down to seal. If using a ravioli tray, roll the dough until the tray cuts through it, and turn over to remove the ravioli. If cutting, simply cut even pieces around the ravioli filling.
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Repeat until you have used all the pasta or filling, whatever comes first. Then, bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil on the stove. Add some salt, and then place the ravioli in the water, working in batches. It should only take about 4 minutes for the ravioli to cook, and you will know when it is because they will float to the top.
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Meanwhile, make the burnt butter sauce. Add the butter, water, sage, prosciutto and salt and pepper to a pan over a medium heat. Allow the butter to simmer until the ravioli is cooked, or it starts to darken in colour. The water will prevent the sage from burning, but make sure you stir frequently.
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To serve, toss the ravioli in the burnt butter sauce for about 4 minutes, ensuring that you stir to coat evenly. Place in a platter and allow people to grate parmesan cheese over the top.
I know this recipe seems long, but it honestly isn’t that complicated at all. I am seriously a pasta novice (not when it comes to eating it, but making it from scratch I am), and I was surprised by how simple it was to make such delicious ravioli. I also love that the sauce is so easy to make, so realistically the main chunk of time for this comes from making the ravioli, not the actual cooking of it! It means after all the effort, you don’t have to wait too long to get stuck into it!
I can’t tell you how good the flavours of this ravioli were. The pumpkin went so perfectly with the sauce, and roasting it before hand made it taste all caramelised and delicious. I think having some parmesan in the filling added a little extra kick of tastiness to the dish too! As I said earlier, this pasta was so good that we all had multiple servings, and made ourselves so full that we couldn’t finish the last piece (a bit of a travesty really). I couldn’t believe how tasty it was, and now I want to make it again and again! Lucky it isn’t the quickest thing to make, or I would be making it again tonight!
If you want something fun to cook with friends that is absolutely delicious, I would seriously try this recipe. It’s great being able to do it together, and then enjoy the fruits of your labour over a bottle or two of wine. Great conversation, delicious pasta and red wine: these are the things that make me truly appreciate life.
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
