Saturday, January 19, 2013

Ravioli al uova (with egg yolks)


This is gonna be fun.

If you like soft egg yolks, that is. And fresh pasta. And cheese, of course.

I sure enjoyed making these ravioli, a specialty of Italy's Emilia-Romagna region if you wondered. And they aren't nearly as difficult to put together as you might think.

No lie.


It helps if you are comfortable working with fresh pasta dough (here's how I make it). These ravioli are large (5 inches around) and so make sure to roll out a wide pasta sheet (say, 8 inches or so). These sheets aren't rolled to the thinnest possible setting, but they are fairly thin (just under the No. 2 setting on my machine.)

The filling? Basically what you have here is a "nest" made out of ricotta and goat cheese (see the filling recipe below). After placing the cheese mixture on the pasta sheet, hollow out a place in the center large enough to accommodate an egg yolk. After the yolk is placed (be careful here, you don't want it to break) make sure that the cheese is higher than the yolk. If it isn't gently add more cheese all around the circle.


Lay another pasta sheet on top. (If the dough is on the dry side use an egg wash first; that'll help the two pasta sheets come together.)


And cut with whatever tool you have around. This 5-inch pastry cutter works great, but even the rim of a wide wine glass can do the trick.


Press down on the edges to make sure they're secure, and they're ready to be boiled.


These ravioli need to be handled gently, and so I put them into the water and take them out with a large slotted spoon. Do not dump them into a colander!


Don't bother doing a complicated sauce because it isn't at all necessary. This is a brown butter sauce, which I managed to ramp up with some black truffles I had around (it was a special occasion). But the brown butter alone would be great too, especially with a little grated cheese once plated. What I do is take the ravioli right out of the boiling water and place them into the pan with the butter, then gently spoon the butter over the ravioli while on medium heat.


Plate it (again, gently).


And there you go.

Like I said, fun. And easy.

Recipe for the filling
Good for six to eight 5-inch ravioli

1 pound fresh ricotta
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together, in no particular order. Taste and adjust to your liking.

15 comments:

Melissa M. said...

This looks so incredibly delicious. I'm a soft egg kind of girl and my husband is most definitely not a soft egg person. So, since he is in Texas this week-end, I know exactly what I will be having for dinner. Thanks for another great recipe.

Mister Meatball said...

Good luck, M.

And let me know how it goes.

Melissa M said...

Made them and loved them. I used a wide, offset spatula to transfer them from the pastry board to the water, then used a slotted spoon to retrieve them. I cooked the first one a little too long, but the rest were perfect. I did not have black truffles, so I used black truffle butter, then sprinkled them with parsley and freshly grated parm-reg. Absolutely delicous. I will make these on a regular basis whenever my husband is out of town.

Mister Meatball said...

Excellent! Thanks for the report.

Thomas Henry Strenk said...

Those runny eggs are illegal to serve in a restaurant in your ex-home state of NJ, Mr. M.
They do look tasty, though.

Mister Meatball said...

There are laws in Jersey?

Really?

Kate. said...

uh, YUM. looks like a good winter project, i need to break out the pasta machine.

Mister Meatball said...

Yes, you do.

ercole ziti said...

that's pretty cool - it's like eggs benedict in a ravioli.

Velva said...

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! I think I died and went to heaven. This is amazing.

Thanks for sharing your ravioli recipe with us.

Velva

Claudia said...

This will warm up body and soul. I must experiment. I need a new life. I never have black truffles lying around.

Gloria Baker said...

these look really delicious I love this recipe!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

What an unique pasta! My husband would defiitely love this.

Ciao Chow Linda said...

I love this pasta dish. I remember eating it at San Domenico in NYC (sadly not there anymore) and ever since then have wanted to make it. Yours looks great, but I don't see truffles in my future, so I'll be making it without.

Robert Torrissi said...

Really, who has black truffles just laying about the kitchen? Only the Meatball... Only the Meatball...