Ravioli Extravaganza

It was Keith's turn to chef it up this week and he decided to go for a ravioli mega-mix. Here comes the science!
















Homemade Ravioli

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. olive oil
Water as needed

Directions:

Mix the flour and salt on a board. Make like a mountain and put a well in the centre. Mix in the egg, yolk, and oil - work fast, mixing with your finger tips. Add a little water (pinch) and knead the mixture into a satiny ball. Cut into 4 pieces and roll out or put in a pasta machine, flouring each ball first. If rolling by hand, roll so thin you can see through it when held to window.


Ravioli Stuffing: Ricotta

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/4 cups bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. dry mint
Handful parsley
Handful grated cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

To make ravioli place one sheet of the pasta on the bottom. Put a teaspoon of filling in strips along the pasta and place a second sheet on top. Cut with knife or ravioli cutter into squares.


Ravioli Stuffing: Ravioli Liguri

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ricotta
1 cup grated Parmigiano
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups packed boiled spinach
A pinch of nutmeg and an equal amount of pepper.
Salt to taste

Directions:

Drain the ricotta well, if need be by squeezing it in cheesecloth, and crumble it. Mince the spinach. Mix the spinach, ricotta, eggs, and spices together and check seasoning.


Ravioli di Patate e Salsiccia

Ingredients:

The Ravioli:
3 potatoes
150g mild Italian sausage
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmigiano
An egg
A medium-sized onion, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
A small bunch parsley, minced
A pinch each nutmeg and marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
A sheet of pasta for making the ravioli

The Sauce can be either:
The drippings form a roast
Butter and sage, with freshly grated Parmigiano

Directions:

1. Boil the potatoes until a skewer penetrates easily, peel them, and rice them, collecting the mashed potato in a large bowl.

2. While the potatoes are boiling, remove the casings from the sausages and crumble the sausage meat into a skillet. Add the olive oil, onion, and parsley, and cook, stirring until the sausage meat has browned and the onion is golden.

3. Stir the mixture into the potatoes, along with the Parmigiano, egg, and herbs. Mix well and check seasoning. Take your sheet of dough, dot half of it with heaping teaspoons of filling at 2-inch (5 cm) intervals, fold the other half of the sheet over the first, tamp down around the filling to join the sheets, and cut the ravioli free with a serrated pastry wheel.

4. Cook them for a minute or two, until they rise to the surface and the pasta is al dente, in abundant salted water, and serve them with either melted butter and sage or with the drippings from a roast. And in either vase grated Parmigiano.


Sweet Croatian Ravioli (The Dessert)

Ingredients:

For the dough:
750g flour
4 whole eggs + 2 yolks (save whites for filling)
2 tbsp. sugar
Salt
220g butter
Milk, as necessary

For the filling:
500 g unpeeled almonds, roasted and ground
3 whole eggs + 2 egg whites
A little ground cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
500g sugar
2 tbsp. rum
Maraschino or brandy
Grated lemon zest
1 piece of chocolate
2 tbsp. butter

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the dough and blend together until smooth.

2. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling.

3. Roll the dough out thinly into two long rectangles.

4. Place small spoonfuls of the filling at regular intervals over the first rectangle; cover with the second piece of dough.

5. Cut into squares or rectangles using a knife or cookie cutter. Pinch the edges to seal.

6. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet and bake until nicely golden.

7. Roll in sugar as soon as they come out of the oven.