Pumpkin ravioli with silverbeet and ricotta filling, with sage butter
An involved day in the kitchen - I always forget how much effort, cleaning and time it takes to make filled ravioli. But then you get to eat their bitey homemade chewy ravioli and it's worth all the effort. Especially this time as I didn't have my entire bowlful of ravioli stick together and have to be thrown out. Trust me, you only make that mistake once.
A very complex affair - trust me, you know I love you if I pull this one out of the kitchen for you...
Pasta Dough
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon water
4 cups fine 00 italian flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
chopped fresh herbs as desired (contintental parsley, sage, thyme, oregano)
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
Silverbeet Filling
500g ricotta
half a teaspoon of grated nutmeg
1/2 bunch silverbeet leaves - finely chopped and cooked
1 egg, beaten
1 clove of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Sage Butter
75g - 100g butter, chopped
1/4 cup small fresh sage leaves
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
Parmesan cheese for serving
Method for Pasta Dough
Sift the flour into the bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix (if using a kitchen aid, use your flat beater to combine).
Knead into a dough (if using a kitchenaid, turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes, then remove from the bowl and hand knead for 1 to 2 minutes). The dough should look springy and spring back to shape when touched. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
NOTE: With all dough, it is not so much about the proportions but how it looks and feels. If it feels too dry, add water. If it's not coming together, add liquid. If it's too sloppy, add more flour. Basically, it should look and feel like smooth elastic with proper density. It is like baking a cake unfortunately, you have to know what it looks like to be sure you have it right.
NOTE: I added a quarter of a cup of pureed pumpkin - this didn't really give it too much of a pumpkin flavour nor colour. If you wanted to add pumpkin to your dough, I'd add half a cup and throw in an extra cup of flour (at least!) to make up for the additional liquid.
Roll out pasta per your pasta machine's instructions to get a 'ravioli'/filled pasta thickness. I use a kitchenaid pasta attachment and we used setting 4.
Hang pasta dough sheets to dry slightly (should still be pliable) - I find that if you hang out the first one and keep rolling out pasta, you'll have the first sheets sufficiently dry by the time you need to start filling.
Method for Silverbeet Filling
Rip the silverbeet leaves off the stems. I rip around the stem parts and any fibrous white bits - rip into medium size pieces. Rinse thoroughly.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Throw in silverbeet pieces and boil til they become a bright green colour (about 1 - 2 minutes). Drain and allow to cool. Depending on how much silverbeet you are cooking, you might need to do this in batches. I recommend only half a bunch for this recipe - but I boiled up a whole bunch and froze the rest (to be used for pasta sauces at a later date).
After draining, press the silverbeet into balls and squeeze out any excess water. Then, finely chop.
Add chopped silverbeet, ricotta, nutmeg, beaten egg, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
Method for Making Ravioli
Place 1 pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place heaped teaspoonfuls of silverbeet mixture onto sheet of pasta - using an egg/water mixture, make a circle around where the ravioli will be with a pasta brush. This will ensure the ravioli stick together. Place another pasta sheet on top and use your cutter to make the ravioli.
Repeat with the remaining pasta sheets and filling.
NOTE: VERY IMPORTANT - make sure as you make them you line them in a tray in a SINGLE layer. If you need to put another layer on, put down a piece of baking paper between ravioli. OTHERWISE they will STICK TOGETHER and when you finish, you will be unable to keep the ravioli you have made and they will form one massive ravioli ball which you will have to throw away. Trust me, this is one of the most distressing moments of my cooking career and has resulted in me being unable to attempt to make ravioli until many months later. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
When your hands get too tired, ask your boyfriend to take over to do the last sheet. Witness him make 'biggalini' (ie. one massive parcel which uses all the remaining filling and pasta sheets in one foul swoop).
For any left over pasta sheets, just run them through your pasta machine to make spaghetti/fettucini for a later date.
When you are ready to eat the labour of love - bring a large saucepan of water to the boil - with a splash of oil and some salt. Cook the ravioli in batches for 5-8 minutes or until al dente. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. While the pasta is cooking, you should start the sage butter (see below).
Divide the ravioli among serving bowls and spoon over the sage butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese (if desired), salt and pepper.
Method for Sage Butter
Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. When the butter foams and then subsides, time to add the sage and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until the sage is crisp and the butter is light golden.
Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
Nadz Tips
The recipe didn't call for it, but I think pine nuts in the mixture would have been a delicious addition whcih would have given it some extra bite.
Whatever ravioli you don't cook, you can freeze. If they have gotten a little sticky on the baking paper, just throw them in the freezer and they will peel right off in a while.
A very complex affair - trust me, you know I love you if I pull this one out of the kitchen for you...
Pasta Dough
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon water
4 cups fine 00 italian flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
chopped fresh herbs as desired (contintental parsley, sage, thyme, oregano)
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
Silverbeet Filling
500g ricotta
half a teaspoon of grated nutmeg
1/2 bunch silverbeet leaves - finely chopped and cooked
1 egg, beaten
1 clove of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Sage Butter
75g - 100g butter, chopped
1/4 cup small fresh sage leaves
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
Parmesan cheese for serving
Method for Pasta Dough
Sift the flour into the bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix (if using a kitchen aid, use your flat beater to combine).
Knead into a dough (if using a kitchenaid, turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes, then remove from the bowl and hand knead for 1 to 2 minutes). The dough should look springy and spring back to shape when touched. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
NOTE: With all dough, it is not so much about the proportions but how it looks and feels. If it feels too dry, add water. If it's not coming together, add liquid. If it's too sloppy, add more flour. Basically, it should look and feel like smooth elastic with proper density. It is like baking a cake unfortunately, you have to know what it looks like to be sure you have it right.
NOTE: I added a quarter of a cup of pureed pumpkin - this didn't really give it too much of a pumpkin flavour nor colour. If you wanted to add pumpkin to your dough, I'd add half a cup and throw in an extra cup of flour (at least!) to make up for the additional liquid.
Roll out pasta per your pasta machine's instructions to get a 'ravioli'/filled pasta thickness. I use a kitchenaid pasta attachment and we used setting 4.
Hang pasta dough sheets to dry slightly (should still be pliable) - I find that if you hang out the first one and keep rolling out pasta, you'll have the first sheets sufficiently dry by the time you need to start filling.
Method for Silverbeet Filling
Rip the silverbeet leaves off the stems. I rip around the stem parts and any fibrous white bits - rip into medium size pieces. Rinse thoroughly.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Throw in silverbeet pieces and boil til they become a bright green colour (about 1 - 2 minutes). Drain and allow to cool. Depending on how much silverbeet you are cooking, you might need to do this in batches. I recommend only half a bunch for this recipe - but I boiled up a whole bunch and froze the rest (to be used for pasta sauces at a later date).
After draining, press the silverbeet into balls and squeeze out any excess water. Then, finely chop.
Add chopped silverbeet, ricotta, nutmeg, beaten egg, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
Method for Making Ravioli
Place 1 pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place heaped teaspoonfuls of silverbeet mixture onto sheet of pasta - using an egg/water mixture, make a circle around where the ravioli will be with a pasta brush. This will ensure the ravioli stick together. Place another pasta sheet on top and use your cutter to make the ravioli.
Repeat with the remaining pasta sheets and filling.
NOTE: VERY IMPORTANT - make sure as you make them you line them in a tray in a SINGLE layer. If you need to put another layer on, put down a piece of baking paper between ravioli. OTHERWISE they will STICK TOGETHER and when you finish, you will be unable to keep the ravioli you have made and they will form one massive ravioli ball which you will have to throw away. Trust me, this is one of the most distressing moments of my cooking career and has resulted in me being unable to attempt to make ravioli until many months later. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
When your hands get too tired, ask your boyfriend to take over to do the last sheet. Witness him make 'biggalini' (ie. one massive parcel which uses all the remaining filling and pasta sheets in one foul swoop).
For any left over pasta sheets, just run them through your pasta machine to make spaghetti/fettucini for a later date.
When you are ready to eat the labour of love - bring a large saucepan of water to the boil - with a splash of oil and some salt. Cook the ravioli in batches for 5-8 minutes or until al dente. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. While the pasta is cooking, you should start the sage butter (see below).
Divide the ravioli among serving bowls and spoon over the sage butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese (if desired), salt and pepper.
Method for Sage Butter
Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. When the butter foams and then subsides, time to add the sage and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until the sage is crisp and the butter is light golden.
Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
Nadz Tips
The recipe didn't call for it, but I think pine nuts in the mixture would have been a delicious addition whcih would have given it some extra bite.
Whatever ravioli you don't cook, you can freeze. If they have gotten a little sticky on the baking paper, just throw them in the freezer and they will peel right off in a while.