Ravioli

I am so pleased that this was a success.  Mr OC suggested we should have it for tea on Saturday night and whilst I was all for it in the taste department I wasn’t sure that our pasta making skills had been tested enough for it to be a success.  When I posted about making our own pasta, Wendy of The Omnivorous Bear had commented how her attempt at ravioli had been disastrous.  Bearing all this in mind, I agreed that we would give it a go, but I did avoid the wine until it was on the plate just in case I had to make a last-minute dash to the Indian Take- Away.

I was expecting the seal to not work and the filling to be lost in the water and our dinner to be given to the chickens. But, no, the ravioli was a blinding success, we both loved it and not one of the ravioli split.

The trick is definitely in the sealing; making sure that there are absolutely no gaps.

We made the pasta ahead of time, feeding the girls their portion, getting them to bed and then working together to put prepare the ravioli.  It was a time-consuming exercise and I don’t think we will be doing this on a weekly basis, or for when there are more than two mouths to feed.  But it was therapeutic and the taste of the ravioli was well worth the effort.

I made a pesto sauce to go with it, which was very good, but not really necessary as the ravioli would have been delicious, perhaps more so, without it.

You will find the recipe for the pasta here. I use 200g of plain ’00’ flour and 2 whole eggs (or 4 egg yolks) for 2 servings.

For the filling:

100g goat’s cheese
3 Peppadew peppers
handful of basil leaves

Method

Remove the rind of the goat’s cheese and crumble into a bowl.  Chop the peppers and tear the basil and add both to the cheese and mix well.

Roll out the pasta and cut out into rounds using a 5cm cutter. Place a small amount of filling on to a round and place another round on top and seal very well, making sure that there are no gaps.  Place onto a plate dusted with semolina.  Continue with the rest of the pasta.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and carefully tip in the pasta.  Boil for one to two minutes until the pasta is tender.  Drain and dress with oil or with pesto.

For the pesto sauce:

50g (2oz) basil leaves
1-2 cloves garlic
25g (1oz) pine kernels
6 tbsp oil (it is usual to use olive oil, but I use rapeseed oil)
25g (1oz) parmesan or pecorino

Method

Place the basil leaves, garlic and pine kernels into a food processor and pulse to a smoothish purée (or use a pestle and mortar). Add the oil and mix briefly. Scrape into a bowl and add the cheese and mix well.