Homemade Ravioli with Ricotta and Spinach Filling, Served with Tuscan Tomato Sauce
They say, the thing you hate the most turns out to be the thing that you tend to fall in love with. And I relate to this so much because I used to have a strong feeling of dislike towards Italian food. My husband, who loves Italian food, slowly introduced me to Italian cuisine during our courtship and since then, Italian has become *the* most favorite cuisine. The first (and now favorite) dish that I fell in love with was “Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli”. So one day, I was on a mission to make homemade ravioli with my favorite filling along with Tomato Sauce. So, here goes the recipe 🙂
Ravioli with Ricotta and Spinach Filling, Served with a Tuscan Tomato Sauce
Fresh Egg Pasta: Makes enough for about 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
- Regular flour (or 00 flour if you can get it) – 2 cups flour, plus extra for rolling the pasta
- Salt – 1/2 tsp
- Large eggs – 3
- Olive Oil – 1/4 cup or 50 ml
- Baking Sheet
Steps:
- Put flour into a bowl; make a well in the centre add the eggs and salt.
- Mix together with your hands, keep kneading until it all comes together.
- Drizzle some quality olive oil into the dough and knead it through.
- Wrap the dough with cling-film and put into the fridge to rest, for about 20 minutes. Note: At this point, the pasta dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Let it come back to room temperature before rolling.
- Sprinkle a baking sheet generously with flour and scrape the ball of dough on top. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Dust the portions with flour and cover with a clean dishtowel. Note: The name of the game at this point is to keep everything well-floured to prevent the pasta from sticking to itself or the roller as you work. If the dough starts to feel sticky as you roll it, sprinkle it with flour. Also sprinkle flour on any pasta you’re not working (rolled, cut or otherwise) with and keep it covered with a dishtowel.
- Roll as thin as possible, lifting and moving the dough constantly to make sure it doesn’t stick. Sprinkle the dough generously with flour and then gently roll it up.
- Thinner the rolled out pasta, better the ravioli. Also the rolled out pasta needs to be uniform in thickness.
- With a cookie cutter or upside-down water-glass or a small upside down steel bowl, cut out circles (or any shape you prefer) from the rolled out pasta.
Filling
Ingredients:
- Ricotta – 250gms
- Spinach, wilted, really well-drained – 1 bag
- Nutmeg – 1/2 tsp
- Pecorino, grated – 20gms
- Basil Leaves – 3-5 leaves
- Salt – to taste
- Parmesan, grated – 1 tbsp
Steps:
- Chop the wilted spinach roughly, add the ricotta, and grate in some nutmeg to flavor.
- Add some finely torn basil leaves through, 3 -5 leaves (optional).
- Finally add the grated pecorino and mix it lightly.
- Try to keep the texture of this mixture a little rough and crumbly. Preferably avoid over-mixing it into a smooth paste
Tuscan Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
- Garlic, chopped very finely – 4-5 cloves
- Tinned cherry tomatoes – 1 tin
- Basil Leaves – 8-10 (you can change the quantity as per your taste)
- Good quality extra virgin olive oil – 2 tbsp
- Chilli flakes – 1 tbsp (you can change the quantity as per your taste)
- Salt – to taste
Steps:
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan, add chopped garlic, basil and a little salt. Cook gently to let all the flavors merge.
- Add the tinned tomatoes and gently cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Finally sprinkle lightly with some chilli.
Making the Ravioli:
- Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add salt (do not add oil to the boiling water as you may have heard/read somewhere) keep the water at a rolling boil as you make the ravioli.
- With a teaspoon, take a spoon of the mixture and place it just off the center of the pasta discs/any shape which you have made earlier.
- Brush the edges of the pasta discs with water and fold it over. Press out any little air bubbles. Repeat this process for all your pasta discs. Dust the finished ravioli with flour to keep them from sticking together.
- Place the ravioli gently into the boiling water.
- The ravioli will only take a couple of minutes to cook.
- Take the cooked ravioli out of the water put on a plate drizzle with olive oil and grate a little pecorino cheese over.
To Serve: Spoon a little tomato sauce over the dressed ravioli and serve immediately with garnish of grated Parmesan and a Basil Leaf.
Phew! I know it is a lot of work but believe me, it is so delicious and the pride you feel on making pasta from scratch makes it worthwhile. Enjoy it with a glass of red wine 🙂
Your feedback is welcome 🙂
Flavors & Aromas 