Over the last couple of years, eating out at Italian restaurants has almost always followed a set routine. We mostly order a nice red wine and a salad (mostly Caesar) , and then gorge on a thin crust pizza along with ravioli or a similar pasta.
Ravioli, basically is stuffed pasta and the stuffing can significantly vary but would usually involve minced meats or cheese. We had always wanted to make a version ourselves but never had the courage to take on the relatively arduous project involving several steps.
That was until recently, when we found a free weekend and got to the task. Here is our expedition - Spinach and cheese ravioli with a nutty pink sauce. For those of us who love pasta - this is Heaven on earth!
Step 1 - Make the sheets
Ingredients (makes 10 Raviolis)
3/4th cup flour
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp Olive oil
½ tsp salt
1 egg
<Same dough can be used to make lasagna sheets, however thickness will vary>
Method
1. Prepare the dough using ingredients mentioned and cover the dough with plastic sheet and leave it for at least 30 mins
2. Make small balls out of dough and take out one and roll it flat – as thin as possible. Keep other balls covered under plastic sheet to avoid drying
3. Cut out desired shape. We chose to make circular shaped but squares is equally common
Step 2 - Make the filling
Ingredients
2 cloves of garlic
100 gms ricotta cheese
200 gms Spinach thawed and chopped
5-6 walnuts broken into pieces
Oregano
Chilli Flakes
Black pepper
salt
Method
1. In a pan, take a spoon of olive oil and sauté garlic till golden brown
2. Add walnuts and roast them
3. Add spinach and ricotta cheese and cook till dry
4. Add salt, black pepper, oregano and chilli flakes
Step 3 - Assemble
1. Spread sheets on a wooden board
2. Add a spoon of filling on each sheet
3. Put slight oil (almost touch) to seal another sheet on top
4. You may press it with thumb but we decided to make some design using fork. You may even want to cut out the excess borders to give them a nice round shape
5. Repeat the process and finish assembling Ravioli
6. Dust them to avoid them from sticking to each other
Step 4 - Make the sauce
You may serve this with any sauce; we chose to serve it with a pink sauce, with a nutty flavour from walnuts and a hint of cheese. The sauce is made prior to cooking the raviolis since we want to keep the raviolis as fresh as possible so make it just before serving.
Ingredients
5 plum tomatoes – pureed
2 medium onions – chopped
3 garlic cloves – chopped
1 cup milk
5 walnuts – crushed
2 cheese slice
Parmesan cheese (to be used later for garnishing)
Oregano
Chili Flakes
Black pepper
salt
Method
1. Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic and onion till golden brown
2. Add crushed walnuts
3. Add tomato puree to it
4. Once tomatoes are properly cooked, add milk and let it cook on slow for 4-5 mins
5. Add Salt, pepper, oregano and chili flakes
6. Add cheese slice and turn the gas off
Step 5 - Cook the raviolis
1. Add ravioli in a pan of boiling water for 1.5 – 2 mins (fresh pasta cooks much faster)
2. Put only 2 -3 ravioli at a time
Step 6 - Assemble and binge!
1. Arrange the cooked raviolis in a pan and pour the sauce
2. Garnish with parmesan cheese and serve hot with your choice of breads
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