Ravioli with ricotta and spinach can be served with a fresh, dry, full-bodied white wine like Chardonnay, Riesling, or Sauvignon. The bubbles of a Prosecco brut are also a perfect match.
Ricotta and spinach ravioli
Ricotta and spinach ravioli are one of the most traditional fresh egg-filled pasta recipes in Italy.
Difficulty: medium
Method: 40
Cooking: 10
Difficulty: medium
Method: 40
Cooking: 10
Method
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01 / Prepare the spinach
Blanch the cleaned spinach in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil
Drain the spinach and let it cool
Chop it
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02 / Prepare the filling
Put the ricotta in a bowl
Add the chopped spinach, grated Parmesan cheese, grated nutmeg and chopped basil
Taste and season with salt and pepper
Place the filling in a sac à poche
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03 / Make the ravioli
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/1.5 mm
Spread the filling with the sac à poche, keeping the piles about 4-5 cm apart
Fold the dough over on itself
Press between the piles to form the ravioli
Cut the ravioli into half-moons with a pastry cutter
Seal the ravioli first with your fingers and then gently with the tines of a fork
Place the ravioli on a floured pastry board
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04 / Prepare the sauce
Melt the butter and sage in a frying pan over a low heat
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05 / Cook the pasta
Buttate i ravioli in acqua bollente salata
Cook for around 5 minutes
Drain and move them onto a pan with the butter and sage sauce
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06 / Serving
Arrange the ravioli on serving plates
Sprinkle some Parmigiano Reggiano
Wine pairing
You can prepare the ravioli to cook them immediately or save them for some time later.
The fresh pasta dough can be prepared a day in advance and stored in the fridge covered with foil, or even earlier and stored in the freezer in a vacuum-sealed bag or in plain food packaging bags.
The filling can be made the day before and stored in the fridge.
The ravioli, once made, can be cooked immediately or within 4 to 5 hours. In this case, ensure that the filling is not wet, place them on a tray covered with baking paper, dust them with durum wheat flour or rice flour and put them in the fridge
You can also freeze them and use them when needed, cooking them in boiling salted water without no need to defrost them first.
The filling must not be too wet to prevent the pasta from getting wet: squeeze the spinach well and choose a compact type of ricotta.
Do not use the fresh pasta immediately after kneading it, but let it rest for at least 30 minutes wrapped in plastic wrap.
The dough should not be thick so that pasta and the filling cook evenly.
When making the ravioli, avoid leaving any air between the pasta and the filling, but make the pasta sheet adhere well to the filling.
Avoid that the ravioli dry too much to prevent them from opening during cooking: distribute the filling as quickly as possible and close the ravioli immediately.
And also, to prevent the ravioli from opening during cooking, seal the edges of the ravioli once they are wrapped: press the edges with your fingers, starting at the corners.
If using the tines of a fork to decorate the ravioli, avoid pressing too hard so you do not pierce the pasta.
If you wish, the uncooked ravioli can be frozen: first place them on a tray covered with baking paper, well-spaced out so they do not stick together and leave them in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Then place them into bags in the desired portions and put them straight back into the freezer.
If you have already cooked but not seasoned leftover ravioli, put them in the fridge and season them with another sauce the next day.
Instead, if you have already seasoned them, put them on oven tray at 190°, sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese to make them au gratin.
For the filling you can use cow or goat milk ricotta according to your taste, better if fat and creamy.
The spinach can be replaced with herbs or wild herbs.
You can replace the Parmesan cheese with pecorino or other types of hard cheese.
Season with the herbs you like best: instead of basil, other aromatic herbs are simply fine!
If you do not have a sac à poche, distribute the filling either with a teaspoon or with your fingers.
You can also dress the ravioli with a tomato and basil sauce or other light seasoning and choose extra virgin olive oil instead of butter.
Ingredients for 4 people
300 g of fresh egg pasta
For the filling
450 g of fresh ricotta
200 g of clean spinach
60 g grated Parmesan cheese
Nutmeg
1 bunch of basil
Extra virgin olive oil
For the sauce
40 g butter
1 bunch of sage
Salt and pepper
Wine pairing
Ravioli with ricotta and spinach can be served with a fresh, dry, full-bodied white wine like Chardonnay, Riesling, or Sauvignon. The bubbles of a Prosecco brut are also a perfect match.