Pea, Pecorino & Parmesan Ravioli

 

Hello - yes, it has been a while!

I was hosting the birthday dinner for a friend, and I saw this recipe on the Australian Gourmet Traveller website (which is really fab, by the way), and was just so keen to try it! They are also very handy for a dinner party, as once made, they freeze very well. In fact I would argue that they are easier to cook from a frozen state than a fresh one.

I've posted before about making pasta - it really is a pretty simple task. This is one of those recipes that yes, has a few steps, but is actually really easy if you have guests, as all of the work is done before they arrive.

Pea Ravioli

Serves 8

80 gm unsalted butter

8 sage leaves, coarsely torn
8 basil leaves, thinly sliced

Pasta dough
500 gm (3 1/3 cups) plain flour
5 (55gm each) eggs, lightly whisked
1 tbsp olive oil

Pea filling
240 gm (2 cups) frozen peas, defrosted
160 gm (2 cups) finely grated Pecorino
100 gm (½ cup) ricotta
40 gm (½ cup) finely grated parmesan
1 (55gm) egg

For pasta dough, using a food processor, process flour and 1 tsp sea salt for a few seconds, add eggs and oil and process until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead into a ball and shape into a log. Cover in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.


Meanwhile, for pea filling, using a food processor, process peas until finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients and process until well combined. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.

Cut dough into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time and keeping the others covered, lightly flour and feed dough through the rollers of a pasta machine on the widest setting, folding sheet once or twice and feeding through rollers again until sheet is smooth. Reduce settings notch by notch, feeding sheet through until you reach the last notch and sheet is about 2mm thick. Place sheet on a lightly floured 3cm-square 24-piece ravioli tray cutter (see note), pressing lightly.

Place a teaspoonful of filling in each cavity, brush edges with water and top with remaining pasta sheet, pressing gently around filling to seal. Using a rolling pin, start at the centre of the tray and roll in both directions until all ravioli are cut and sealed. To remove ravioli, invert tray and tap gently.




Transfer to a baking paper-lined and floured tray and freeze. Repeat with remaining dough and pea filling until filling is used up. Makes about 80 ravioli. Ravioli will keep in a container in the freezer for up to a month.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Remove ravioli from freezer, separate and cook until cooked through (6-8 minutes). Drain, reserving 1 cup of liquid.

Add butter and sage to a frying pan and cook until butter foams (about 1 minute). Add reserved pasta water and bring to the boil. Cook until reduced to a sauce consistency (about 1 minute), then add ravioli and toss gently to combine. Add basil, season to taste and serve.