Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli
Want to make your own fresh pasta but don’t know where to start? I’m sharing my top tips along with a new recipe for making homemade Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli 🥟
My first tip for pasta making is to have fun! I meet so many people that say “I love pasta but I’ve never tried making my own”, it’s honestly not as hard as you think. Some of the best pastas are the simplest dishes and that goes for the pasta too. You can always start with easier shapes, for example you could just start with lasagne sheets or tagliatelle and as your confidence grows get more adventurous.
The dough
200g 00 flour
2 large eggs
The ratio of 100g to each egg always works well, so you can alter as required.
Do this however you feel comfortable, when I first started out making pasta regularly I used to use a mixing bowl as it was all I had, but now I have a big wooden board which I prefer to use, I know I’ve watched Gennaro Contaldo do it perfectly on a large plate too! Whatever you choose follow these simple steps:
Make a well in the centre of the pasta.
Crack the eggs into the well.
Using a fork gradually mix the egg and slowly introduce the flour (try to not break the wall if using a board).
It will start to form dough like clumps (I don’t know how else to explain it!), don’t worry, this is normal.
Using your hands, combine it together and begin to knead it to form a dough.
Knead it for 5-10 minutes until you get a springy dough.
Wrap it in cling film or a beeswax wrap and leave to rest for about 20-30 minutes.
If you’re going to leave it any longer I recommend resting it in the fridge. I always used to think this was best but actually you can leave it at room temperature if it’s not for too long.
Spinach and ricotta ravioli
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients:
- 200g Ricotta
- 100g cooked spinach (weight when drained and squeezed of any excess water), then roughly chopped
- 25g grated parmesan cheese
- Freshly grated nutmeg to flavour
- Salt and pepper
Instructions:
While your dough is resting you can be preparing the filling for your ravioli.
Mix the ricotta and spinach together in a bowl and add the parmesan, tehn season with a good grating of fresh nutmeg plus salt and pepper to taste. The nutmeg really does make all the difference to the flavour so if you have some, use it!
Now your filling is ready it’s time to roll the dough. If you have a pasta machine this is by far the easiest and quickest way to roll pasta sheets but if this is your first time use the rolling pin in your kit.
Halve the pasta dough to make it easier and on a well floured surface begin to roll your dough, keep rolling until you have a long, thin sheet of pasta, like a lasagne sheet, about 3mm thick and as long as you can get it.
Once your pasta dough is rolled and ready cut two sheets so they’re roughly the same size in length.
On one piece, start to place evenly spaced teaspoons of filling along the sheet, if you have one leave enough space for you to use the ravioli stamp around each ball of filling. Once you’ve done that, place the other piece of dough over the top and gently push round each bit of filling pushing out any air as you go. You can also fold the pasta dough over the filling if you find this easier, push out the air and seal the edges using a fork.
If you have a stamp use it to cut the raviolis. If these don’t cut through the dough use a pasta cutter wheel to define the shapes and edges and cut them into shape.
Place on a well floured baking tray, or tea towel. Use semolina or pastsa flour to stop the shapes from sticking.
To cook the ravioli bring a pan of water to the boil, add some salt and add the ravioli to the pan, let cook for approximately 3-5 minutes depending on how thick your dough was, they’ll float to the top when ready.
You’ve made your own fresh pasta dish from scratch!
Top Tip
If you don’t want to cook all the ravioli at once or prepare in advance, put them in the fridge on the baking tray, or freeze them flat until they’re part frozen and put into a freezer bag to stop them sticking together.
Keep it simple when serving, either a drizzle of olive oil, black pepper and some parmesan or I added a little tomato sauce (fresh or chopped tomatoes with garlic, basil, olive oil and salt and pepper)
BUON APPETITO!
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