Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli
Honestly, nothing is better than pasta.
Yields 4 servings
Pasta Ingredients
300 grams all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
4 egg yolks
½ cup water
Filling Ingredients
15 oz ricotta
3 oz spinach
1 ½ tsp diamond kosher salt
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
Assembly
2 egg yolks
Semolina flour or all-purpose flour
Supplies
Kitchen scale
Rolling pin
Knife
Bench Scraper (optional, but highly suggested)
Spider (optional)
Pasta Instructions
Weigh out 300 grams of All Purpose Flour. Transfer the flour onto a clean work surface and pile it into a nice mound. Using your hand, make a well in the center of the flour, keeping in mind the eggs will be going into the well and will need adequate space.
Grab a small bowl. You’re going to separate the yolk of 3 eggs from the white. Crack each egg on a flat surface and bring over the small bowl. Empty the egg into your hand and carefully work the yolk free of the white, ensuring the yolk stays intact. Once the yolk is free, place it into the well.
Slightly separate your fingers so that the yolk can fall through them into the bowl and move the yolk back and forth between your hands until the entire white has separated.
Crack 2 eggs on a flat surface into the well with the yolks.
Using a fork, combine the eggs and yolks inside the well like you would scramble eggs. Slowly incorporate the flour surrounding the well into the egg mixture until it thickens enough that the egg mixture will not run.
Then, using a bench scraper, combine the outer wall with the egg mixture. Hold the bench scraper perpendicular to the work surface and insert it under the wall of flour. Fold the flour over the egg mixture and quickly continue around the whole wall making sure to scrape and fold in any areas that run.
If you don’t have a bench scraper, you can use your fork to gather and fold in the flour to the egg mixture similarly.
Holding the bench scraper vertically, chop up the flour and egg mixture until the two are roughly combined. The dough will be very dry and crumbly. Using your hands, compress the dough together to hydrate the flour and pull the dough together. If the dough is still very dry and not combining, add one tablespoon of water at a time until the dough is hard but workable.
Knead the dough until it comes together in a smooth mass–about 7 minutes. The finished dough will be very hard to work with, a very low hydration dough, and very springy.
If in the process of kneading, the dough continues to break and will not come together, add more water, again one tablespoon at a time. Kneading this dough will be a workout so if you need a break, cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes. Allowing the dough to rest for a moment will allow the dough to hydrate further and will make it slightly easier to work with.
Once the dough forms a smooth ball, wrap it in plastic and let it rest for at least 30 minutes on the counter. Or place it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Filling Instructions
Weigh out 3 oz of Spinach. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Once the pan is preheated, add the spinach to the pan. Cook down the spinach until it has released its moisture and shriveled completely.
Empty the cooked spinach into a bowl lined with paper towels. Once the spinach has cooled, wrap it in a paper towel and squeeze out all of the excess moisture.
You want to get out as much moisture as you can so that the spinach does not release that moisture inside of the ravioli. This will ensure the finished ravioli stays sealed.
In a medium bowl, add 15 oz ricotta, the cooked and strained spinach, and the seasonings (1 ½ tsp diamond kosher salt, ½ tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp parsley, 1 tsp oregano). Stir until fully combined.
If you do not have diamond kosher salt, salt to taste. The ricotta mixture should not taste salty but should have changed from tasting milky to a more robust flavor.
Assembly Instructions
If the dough has been refrigerated, allow it to come to room temperature. Unwrap the dough and place it on a lightly dusted (dusting with All Purpose flour will work, but semolina is preferred) work surface. Using a bench scraper or large knife, cut the dough in half and rewrap half the dough and set aside until the first batch of ravioli is completed. If you roll out all of the dough at once, it will dry out too quickly and will not seal well.
Using a Kitchenaid pasta attachment or pasta machine: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is thin enough to feed into the thickest setting (usually 1 on your pasta attachment/machine). Run the dough through the pasta attachment/machine on the thickest setting (always on the lowest speed if using a Kitchenaid) then fold the dough in half end over end and run it through the machine again. Decrease the thickness on the machine to 2 and run the dough again. Continue thinning the dough through the machine by decreasing the thickness by 2 settings each time until you reach your desired thickness. I like to stop my pasta maker at 6 or one thicker than the thinnest setting. This should result in a long, thin strip of pasta.
Without a pasta machine: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough as thin as you can, trying to make and maintain a thin rectangular shape. Once the dough is fairly thin, flour the dough generously and roll it up on the rolling pin, making sure there is plenty of flour between each layer of pasta to ensure the dough does not stick to itself. Place your hands together with your thumbs touching in the middle of the dough and in small back-and-forth motions, roll the dough thinner, slowly spreading your hands farther apart until you reach the end of the dough. Continue until the dough reaches your desired thickness.
The dough should be about 2 mm thick or thinner and if held up to light should let the light pass through it.
Place the finished pasta on a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough in half crosswise so you know where to fold the dough on itself to seal the ravioli.
On one side of the dough map out where you will place the filling of each ravioli.
If you have a pasta stamp or cutter, lightly mark the dough with the stamp leaving a few millimeters of space between each stamp. Using a small cookie scoop, place the ricotta filling in the center of each of the stamp markings.
If you do not, evenly space out rows of the ricotta filling using a small cookie scoop leaving plenty of space on either side of the filling to make room for the seams of each ravioli.
Grab a small bowl and the bowl of egg whites you reserved. Crack 2 eggs, separating the yolk from the white into the small bowl and the bowl of egg whites. Using a fork or chopstick, break the two egg yolks and mix until smooth.
Dip the tip of your index finger into the egg yolks and outline the ravioli filling with the yolk. This yolk will act as glue to hold the seams of the ravioli together.
Fold the other half of the dough over the side containing the filling. Working from the fold, carefully seal each pile of filling by pressing down on the dough until there are no air pockets.
Once each ravioli is sealed, cut out each ravioli.
With a pasta stamp, center the filling in the stamp and press firmly through both sides of the pasta. Carefully wiggle the cutter from side to side to release the ravioli from the rest of the dough.
Without a stamp, use a long knife or a bench scraper cut a grid into the pasta, making individual square ravioli.
Remove the excess pasta, (if you used a knife to cut out the pasta, there may be no excess) squeeze it into a mass, and wrap it in a damp paper towel. This will rehydrate the dough as it will have dried out some and this will allow it to be flattened again and made into a workable dough.
Lightly flour a baking sheet and set it near the pasta.
Slide a bench scraper (or turner) under the individual ravioli, carefully as they may have stuck to the counter, squeeze the seams together to reinforce the seal and place on the baking sheet to dry.
Repeat steps 2-12 with the reserved dough and the excess from the first batch. Repeat with the excess dough until you run out of either dough or filling.
If you are not cooking immediately, set them out, flipping them occasionally until they are adequately dry. Line the baking sheet with paper towels or a dish towel and lightly flour. Place the ravioli on the floured towels and cover them with more towels. This will ensure the dough doesn’t rehydrate too much in the fridge and become one large mass or stick to the sheet.
Cooking
Fill a large pot ¾ full with water. Place the pot on a burner and turn it on to high. Thoroughly salt the water.
Grab a large bowl and add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom.
If the ravioli has excess flour on it, use your fingers or a pastry brush to carefully remove. Then, working in batches of 8 to 10 ravioli, add the pasta to the water and cook for 3 minutes until the pasta is al dente. Using a spider, remove the ravioli from the water and place them in the oiled bowl. Repeat until all of the pasta has been cooked.
Add the pasta and ½ cup of pasta water to your sauce and cook for 2 min. If you are serving the ravioli in a butter sauce do not add the pasta water.
Recommended Sauce: BA’s Best Bolognese by Andy Baraghani
