“People get intimidated by the idea of making homemade ravioli, but what’s the worst that can happen? If it doesn’t turn out great the first time, it’ll be better the next. This is a nice dish to make on a Sunday afternoon when you have a good bottle of wine and lots of time to spare. It’s satisfying to make and it tastes really good.”
– Anne Lunell and Charles Nystrand, coffee roasters, Helsingborg, Sweden
Note:
This recipe is considerably easier if you have a pasta rolling machine (Anne and Charles have a neat little Marcato that clasps onto their kitchen counter).
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
Pasta:
550g durum wheat flour and some extra for dusting
4 eggs
1-2 tbsp water
Pinch of salt
Filling:
A big chunk of butter
Olive oil
2 small leeks, halved lengthways and chopped into 1cm rounds
1 red onion, diced
A bunch of spring onions, finely chopped, shoots retained
600g mushrooms, finely chopped (Anne used a mix of shiitake, chanterelles and King Edward)
2-3 tbsp ricotta
Nutmeg, grated
Parmesan, grated
Salt and pepper
Topping:
Pan-fried mushrooms (Anne used chanterelles)
Pan-fried spring onion shoots
Fresh peas, podded
Browned butter
METHOD
First, prepare the pasta. On a clean workspace, pour out the flour into a mound with a crater. Crack the eggs into the middle and beat them into the flour with a fork. Bring the mixture together and knead it for 5-10 minutes to activate the gluten in the flour. If the dough feels a little bit dry add some cold water. Shape into a ball, then flatten roughly, cover with clingfilm and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Now prepare the filling. Place a pan on a low heat and add the butter and a glug of oil. Stir in the leeks and red onions and cook for a few minutes before adding the chopped spring onions (don’t throw away the shoots!) and some grated nutmeg. Let this cook slowly for another 10 minutes until everything is caramelised, then transfer to a bowl.
Meanwhile place a wide frying pan on a high heat, add a good amount of butter and fry the mushrooms for the filling until they start releasing moisture – another 5 to 10 minutes. Don’t forget to season with salt. Add the mushrooms to the leek and onion mixture and place in the fridge for a few minutes. When it’s cooled a bit, remove the mixture from the fridge, add the ricotta, grated parmesan, salt and pepper and some more grated nutmeg – stir to combine.
Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into several pieces. Flatten each one into a narrow strip with your hand, then pass it through the roller repeatedly, narrowing the setting each time until the strip is no more than 1mm thick. Using a cutter or something circular with a sharp edge (Charles used a cocktail shaker), cut circles out of the dough and set them to one side. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough. (The total number of circles will depend on how wide you cut them; Charles made around 60.)
Spoon small amounts of the filling onto half of your circles, leaving ample space around the edges. Take one of these circles, dab some water around the edges and place a spare circle on top. Press down the edges to seal, making sure no air gets trapped in the middle (otherwise it’ll blow up). Repeat until all the ravioli are sealed, then dust lightly with flour to keep them from sticking together.
Put a griddle pan on a medium-high heat, drizzle it lightly with oil and add the spring onion shoots, turning until they are nicely charred all over.
Fry the mushrooms for the topping, as before.
In a separate pan, heat the butter and let it bubble for a couple of minutes, swirling the pan constantly, until the butter turns a hazelnut colour.
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to the boil and add half the ravioli. Let them cook for 3 minutes, testing an edge of one piece to see if it’s done. Transfer the cooked ravioli to a warmed plate with a slotted spoon (then immediately add the other half to the pot and repeat).
Plate up the ravioli and top with the chanterelles, spring onion shoots and fresh peas. Drizzle each plate with brown butter and serve immediately.
