HOMEMADE RICOTTI SPINACH FILLED RAVIOLI
There’s nothing more satisfying than your own homemade pasta, so plan for an afternoon in the kitchen to make spinach ricotta ravioli.
The simplest things are often also the best and this is why today I decided to prepare with you the recipe for homemade ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta. A vegetarian and lighter alternative to the classic meat ravioli.
A delicate but tasty dish at the same time. It may seem very complicated but in reality it only requires a little patience and a few rules to follow, but it is certainly worth trying for the enormous satisfaction we will have by preparing stuffed pasta at home.
In Liguria, my region, they are a real specialty and are seasoned either simply with butter and sage or, as we will see today, with the walnut sauce which, with its strong character, goes well with the delicacy of the filling. It’s a dish I’ve always loved. It was Sunday lunch. I still remember how they melted in my mouth with their firm, yet soft and delicate texture. My grandmother Lisetta prepared them for me, born and raised in Genoa, an excellent cook and expert in all the secrets of Ligurian cuisine.
I must say that as an adult I have rarely tasted ravioli as good as the ones she made. I never, ever thought I would try my hand at this preparation. Nowadays who has time to make ravioli? It’s already a lot if I throw the dried pasta into the water to boil!
But then one day my mother by chance found some notes from my grandmother, which among other recipes mentioned her wonderful ravioli… the temptation was too strong. So I calmly planned my day, bought the necessary ingredients and one Sunday morning I got to work following his instructions step by step. I’m honest, my grandmother’s ones will remain in the annals of history, they were the best.
Perhaps because they were part of my memories as a child and I almost “mythologised” them, perhaps because certain people seem to have a magic wand in the kitchen and whatever they touch turns into a masterpiece, despite this I must say that my ravioli were really good and I am very satisfied with the results obtained and therefore I decided to share the efforts with you.
Take some time out of your week and try to prepare them, it’s really worth it and they’re an excellent stress reliever to get away from the daily frenzy!
Ingredients
Ingredients for homemade egg pasta
Ingredients For ricotta spinach filling
- Power 538,78 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 73,29 (g) of which sugars 2,17 (g)
- Proteins 30,82 (g)
- Fat 15,36 (g) of which saturated 8,04 (g)of which unsaturated 7,05 (g)
- Fibers 4,38 (g)
- Sodium 458,60 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Tools
Steps
Preparation of egg pasta
First, proceed by preparing the egg pasta which you will then have to fill with the spinach filling. Follow all the instructions to prepare a perfect egg puff pastry by clicking HERE.
Stuffing preparation
While the egg pasta rests, prepare the filling. Wash spinach, dry with a cloth, then put them in a pan with a spoonful of olive oil. Cover with a lid and let them cook until they have softened (about 2 minutes). Remove from the heat, drain well and squeeze to remove excess liquid. Set the spinach aside to cool. Pour into a bowl: ricotta, parmesan and grated nutmeg, add salt and mix the ingredients with a spoon until they are well blended. Take the spinach, put it in the blender and chop it, then add it to the ricotta mixture and mix.
Roll out the pastry
Take the sheet of egg pasta, divide it into two parts, lightly flour it and start rolling it out by hand with a rolling pin or with a sheeting machine: it should become about 1 mm thick. Proceed in the same way with the second piece of egg pasta. If you are not particularly skilled at using a rolling pin I recommend the sheeter machine because the dough must be very thin.
Ravioli preparation
Roll out the first sheet of egg pasta on a lightly floured work surface and with the help of a teaspoon or a pastry bag create small mounds of filling which should be spaced about 3 cm apart. Moisten the edges of the pastry with a little water, place the second sheet of egg pasta on top and press with your fingers around each pile of filling. Try to let the air out between one ravioli and another to prevent them from opening during cooking. Finally, cut the ravioli with a cutter: you must obtain squares of approximately 4 cm per side. As you create the ravioli, arrange them on a lightly floured tray to prevent them from sticking to each other. Your ravioli are ready!!!
Ravioli cooking
Bring water and salt to the boil in a large pan. Immerse the ravioli and let them cook until they come to the surface (about 3 minutes). Drain the ravioli delicately and season them with walnut or tomato sauce or simply with butter and sage! Sprinkle with grated parmesan before serving. Enjoy your meal!
STORAGE
It is possible to store the ravioli in the refrigerator for 2/3 days or in the freezer for a maximum of 1 month. If you decide to freeze them, place them in a tray well spaced from each other and when you decide to use them, cook them still frozen.
HOW TO GET PERFECT HOMEMADE FILLED RAVIOLI:
– the dough must be left to rest after preparing it, in order to allow the formation of the gluten mesh.
– The pastry must be thin, if the sheets are thick the cooking result will be a pastry with raw edges or an overcooked filling
– The filling must be neither too moist nor too dry. Therefore, so that it is not too moist, it is important that the vegetables are squeezed well so that they do not release too much water, which is why it is better to cook them in a pan and not boil them. If the filling is too hard, add a little ricotta.
– To seal the edges well, the trick is to moisten the edges of the lower sheet with a brush dipped in water before placing the upper one.
– When you close the ravioli, avoid leaving air inside as this, in contact with the heat of the water, will tend to expand, causing your ravioli to burst with the consequent loss of the filling and water entering inside.
– Cook them in water at a moderate boil, otherwise the movement of the water could cause the ravioli to open during cooking.
– Finally, once cooked, do not dip them in the colander but lift them out delicately with a slotted spoon as you would with gnocchi.
Varied doses for servings