Spinach And Cheese Ravioli With Sage Butter Recipes

3 CHEESE SPINACH RAVIOLI AND SAGE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• In a food processor combine 00 Flour, egg and olive oil and mix just until the dough starts to pull together. (I have found the little bit of olive oil makes really tender pasta) We used large grade A eggs. If your pasta is too dry, add a little bit more olive oil. If your eggs are larger than ours, you may need to add a little more flour. Remove the dough from the food processor and place your dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until you can put your finger in the dough and it springs back. Roll the dough into a circle and wrap with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for about 30 minutes. If you have a large food processor, you can make the whole batch at once. (Unfortunately, we have a very small food processor. We can only fit in 100 grams of flour at a time. If you also have a small food processor, add 1 whole egg and 1 teaspoon of olive oil for every 100 grams of 00 flour and make it in individual batches.) If you do not have a food processor, you can do this whole process by hand. Place your flour on a clean work surface, make a well in the middle of the flour with your hands. Add the egg and a little bit of olive oil in the well. Mix the flour in with the egg a little at a time until it comes together to a ball and then knead.
• Make a egg wash with 1 beaten egg 1 tablespoon of water and set aside for ravioli assembly process.
• In a frying pan add olive oil, onions and garlic and sauté until aromatic. Add spinach and stir fry until just wilting. Cool spinach mixture and squeeze out all water. In a food processor add ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, egg, garlic, spinach, and salt and pepper and mix until well blended. Set aside. If you do not have a food processor, chop the spinach and mix the ingredients in a bowl with a fork.
• Remove your pasta dough from the plastic wrap. Cut the dough in smaller sections to make it easier to work with. We take one serving of the dough and cut in half. Then, flatten it out a little bit with your hands.
• We have a Marcato Atlas 150 Model pasta maker. Place the pasta maker on the zero dial. Run the pasta dough through it once. Fold the pasta dough in half. Run it through the pasta maker one more time.(Set aside some extra 00 flour nearby so you can flour your pasta dough periodically before running through the pasta maker so it does not stick- very important )Then change your dial to #1 and run dough through the pasta machine. Fold pasta in half and run one more time through dial setting #1. (What that does is really gets that gluten activated and makes for a smooth and tender pasta. ) Now set the pasta machine on #2 and run through the machine. Next set it on #3 and run through the machine and keep on going up until #5, then cut that long pasta sheet in half so it is easier to work with. Run 1/2 of the pasta strip through the pasta machine on #6 and then again one last time on #7.(7 seems to be the perfect number for thin and tasty ravioli) (If you can recruit some help in the kitchen this is great to have help to crank while the other person runs it through the pasta machine but is not required, its just more fun that way)
• If using your strong muscles, hands and a rolling pin, you are going to have to put some time and muscles into getting your pasta paper thin and into the shape of a rectangle. Keep moving dough and rolling out in all directions. You should be able to almost see though the pasta.
• Flour your working surface with 00 flour. Take one of your pasta sheets you rolled through the pasta maker until the level #7. Trim up the edges so that it is a long rectangle. Place about 1 teaspoon of the 3 cheese spinach every 2 inches apart on the the ravioli sheet on one side of the pasta sheet. Brush your egg wash around each section of filling. This is the glue to help the 2 sheets of pasta to stick together. Next fold over the sheet of pasta in half lengthwise. Gently press starting on one side nearest to the ravioli filling outward get out all of the air. Press outwards to seal around edges. Continue you on with the rest making sure to get out all of the air so they do not burst in the cooking process. Next cut ravioli into segments- I used a round cookie cutter to perform this task. I do not have a ravioli press or maker or attachment for my pasta maker. Lucky you, if you have one You will want to flour your dish before you set your assembled raviolis on it to prevent sticking.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt your water well. Boil your 3 cheese spinach ravioli just a few at a time for about 3-4 minutes or until aldente. Strain with slotted spoon/strainer and place into your serving bowl.
• Add butter garlic, sage, salt and pepper to a small sauce pan and cook until butter turns from cloudy to clear - about 2 minutes. Turn your burner off
• Add your cooked 3 cheese spinach ravioli to your dish drizzle with a little sage butter sauce and top with grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

CHEESE RAVIOLI WITH BROWN BUTTER AND SAGE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add ravioli, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain, and divide among 4 plates.
• In a medium skillet, heat butter over medium. When it starts to foam, add sage. Continue to cook until butter is golden brown and sage is slightly crisp, 1 to 2 minutes; season with salt. Drizzle ravioli with brown butter and sage; serve.

BASIC RAVIOLI WITH A BUTTER-SAGE SAUCE

Steps:

• For the filling: Add the ricotta, Parmigiano and eggs and sprinkle with salt in a bowl. Adjust seasoning if needed. Put the filling in a pastry bag and reserve.
• For the pasta: Set the pasta roller on the widest setting (#1). Start with half the pasta dough; keep the other half covered until ready to use. Using your hands, flatten the dough as much as you can to facilitate it going through the pasta roller. Run the dough through the roller, twice dusting it in between rolls if it feels sticky. Fold the dough into thirds and turn it 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and run it through the pasta machine 2 to 3 times. Move the roller to the next setting (#2) and run the pasta through. Dust lightly with flour if the dough feels sticky. Continue to run the dough through the machine reducing the opening (or moving the setting to the next larger number) in between every roll. Stop when you get to the correct thinness, this will usually be around number 5 or 6 on the dial, but every machine is different, you will have to be the judge of your own pasta thickness.
• To assemble the ravioli: Lay out the dough on a flat surface. Brush the lower half of the dough (the part that is closest to you) lightly with water. This is the glue that will hold the ravioli together. Use the glue sparingly, if you use too much the pasta will slide and not stick. Pipe 1-inch balls of filling onto the pasta that has been brushed with water, leaving about 2 inches between each ball. Fold the top half of the pasta down over the filling to meet the bottom edge. Using your index fingers, poke around each filling ball to seal the ravioli shut, AND to make sure that there are no air bubbles. Using a fluted round cutter or a fluted pastry wheel or even a drinking glass, cut out each ravioli. Transfer to a sheet tray dusted with semolina or polenta and reserve until ready to use.
• To cook the ravioli and make the sauce: Add the butter to a large saute pan and bring to a medium heat. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and season with salt. Shake the pan to incorporate the butter and stock, and simmer until the stock has reduced a bit and the sauce looks velvety and is the consistency of heavy cream. If the sauce thickens too much, adjust the consistency with chicken stock. Add the sage and season with salt.
• Add the ravioli to the pot of boiling water and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully remove the ravioli from the cooking water and put them immediately into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil, shaking frequently to be sure that the ravioli don'(TM)t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Transfer the ravioli to a serving platter. Mangia Bene!
• Put the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a hole (this is also called a well) in the center of the flour pile that is about 8 inches wide (bigger is definitely better here). Crack all of the eggs and the yolk into the hole and add the olive oil, salt and water.
• Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, salt and water. Using the fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture; be careful not to break the sides of the well or the egg mixture will run all over your board and you will have a big mess! Also, don't worry about the lumps. When enough flour has been incorporated into the egg mixture that it will not run all over the place when the sides of the well are broken, begin to use your hands to really get everything well combined. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands and begin kneading with wet hands. When the mixture has really come together to a homogeneous mixture, THEN you can start kneading.
• When kneading it is VERY important to put your body weight into it, get on top of the dough to really stretch it and not tear the dough. Using the heels of your palms, roll the dough to create a very smooooooth, supple dough. When done, the dough should look VERY smooth and feel almost velvety. Kneading will usually take from 8 to 10 minutes for an experienced kneader and 10 to 15 for an inexperienced kneader. Put your body weight into it, you need to knead! This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and have fun!
• When the pasta has been kneaded to the perfect consistency, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least 1 hour. If using immediately do not refrigerate.
• Roll and cut the pasta into desired shape. How smooth and supple!