I am in love with pasta! I remember when, eight years ago, I went to Milan for the first time. I sat in a small piazza and I ordered my very first Italian spaghetti with tomato sauce. For the rest of my days in the city, I think, I ate every possible pasta dish. It was incredible! At that time, I was so new to the culinary world, that this experience completely changed the way I look at food today.
Still to this day, I have a major weakness for pasta and watch Italian cooking shows on TV all the time. I can also admit that if I had to choose just one dish to eat for the rest of my life, without a doubt, I would choose pasta. Those lovely, al dente floury tubes with a silky and smooth sauce and a salty parmesan on top are like a love serenade for my stomach.
From time to time, I like to surprise my man by cooking ravioli. I think this dish is so versatile. You can make them vegetarian, meaty or even sweet! Everyone can find the best flavour combination for themselves. Additionally, this is a great way to easily add at least one portion of veggies to your diet. If you are cooking for your family as well, the preparation and cooking process itself could be a nice experience with your little ones.
Before you make ravioli or homemade pasta, you need to remember a few things:
- Firstly, do not forget to add olive oil into your dough. This way your dough will be elastic and soft.
- Secondly, let the dough rest. After kneading the dough, put the cling film on top of it and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. Otherwise, the dough will be hard and dry.
- Lastly, pay attention to the boiling process. It takes no longer than 3-5 minutes to cook the pasta (depending on the size).
This time, I made ravioli with spinach and peas. I also added some freshly chopped mint (peas and mint is a match made in heaven).
Ingredients:
250g flour (00 Type)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon olive oil
200g spinach
100g peas
¼ leek
50g parmesan cheese
Mint
Salt and pepper
- First of all, prepare the dough for your pasta. Into flour add egg, egg yolk, olive oil, a pinch of salt and combine everything together. If the dough is not sticking together, add a couple of tablespoons of water.
- Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is elastic.
- Leave the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Prepare the ravioli filling. Cut the leek and fry it in a pan for a couple of minutes. Add peas and spinach and fry everything together for another minute.
- Add grated cheese, chopped mint, salt and pepper.
- Roll out the ravioli dough into thin sheet (2-3mm).
- To assemble the ravioli, brush the egg wash over a sheet of pasta. Place the filling mixture on the pasta (roughly one teaspoonful each, about 2cm apart). Cover the filling with the top sheet of pasta. Press firmly around the filling to seal. Cut into individual ravioli with a knife. Seal the edges with a fork.
- Boil water and stir in the ravioli. Cook them for around 3-4 minutes.
- To serve the ravioli, drizzle some burned butter (just heat the butter in a pan on a low heat for 3 minutes until it gets brown and nutty) and sprinkle parmesan cheese as liberally as you like!
