So I went out and finally bought myself a pasta machine. I've been saving the pennies. So here is my first attempt:
Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli
Ingredients:
For the filling (Serves 2)
200g Baby Spinach
knob of butter
100g of Italian Ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper to taste
For the pasta dough (Serves 4)
200g pasta flour or 00 plain flour
2 eggs
pinch of salt
Method:
For the filling I melted a knob of butter in a pan
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then added the spinach
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I cooked it with the lid on for about 5 mins until the spinach had wilted
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In the meantime I combined the egg yolk and ricotta in a bowl
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I then drained the excess water out of the spinach, chopped it up then beat it together with the egg yolk and ricotta.
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Putting the filling aside I made a start on the dough.
Sift out the flour and the pinch of salt onto a flat surface, make a well and crack the 2 eggs into the middle
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Break the eggs with your fingers and mix into the flour. You need to knead it for at least 10mins so it's a good workout in the kitchen.
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Leave it to rest for about 30mins covered with a damp cloth.
Here's my new pasta machine
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Use the pasta machine to roll out a thin sheet of pasta. Depending on how thin you want your Ravioli to be. I went to the second to last notch.
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I then placed the spinach and ricotta onto the pasta sheet, giving an equal space between each.
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I then folded over the other half and pressed down around each bit of filling to seal it in the pasta.
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I used my pizza cutter to slice them into individual parcels and then used a fork to decorate and finally seal them. I put them on a drying rack as they will stick to a flat surface.
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Cook the ravioli in boiling salted water for about 8 to 10 mins. I had a little of the filling left so I made a sauce with it. I heated up some garlic in Olive Oil, added the remaining filling and a dolop of Creme Fraiche.
Unfortunately I was so excited about the dish that I forgot to take a photo. I basically served it with freshly shaved parmesan and some fresh basil.
So because I forgot to take the grand finale photo, the next day, with the remaining pasta I made some spaghetti
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I decided to make a garlic and chilli sauce with it aka Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with chilli.
I chopped up some garlic and slowly heated it in olive oil then added a large fresh chilli. Just to add an extra flavour I cooked 3 large king prawns in the garlic and chilli oil then added a few normal prawns too.
I then cooked the pasta for about 2mins in boiling salted water and served.
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