In our last blog, we gave you’ll a sneak peak of a creative and surprisingly easy pasta dish idea, that our chef on a slow summers day started playing around with.
In this post, we go a further step to give you the A-Z of creating an exciting and delightful pasta dish that will definitely make everyone seated around the dining table… including the fussy, vegetable hating little ones begging for more!!
Without more ado, here is a take of one of our fun and playful colorful pasta recipes that will sure add color to your Italian experience.
Dumpling Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese and Spinach
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients for Pasta:
- 2 eggs
- 70 gm cooked spinach
- 250 gm type 00 wheat flour
- 50 gm durum wheat semolina
- Pinch of salt
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Ingredients for the filling:
- 150 gm Ricotta cheese
- 75 gm cooked spinach
- 25 gm Grana Padano
- A touch of nutmeg
- 1 egg yolk
Ingredients for condiment:
- 70 gm butter
- Grated Grana Padano
- Vegetable Stock
- Freshly chopped basil
- Crushed pine nuts
Instructions
- Begin making the dough, by blending the cooked spinach after draining it completely.
- Continue by combining the flour, eggs, blended spinach, semolina and salt together in a big mixing bowl. Knead the dough for 5 minutes and then allow it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. If the dough is too dry just add oil to it accordingly.
- While your dough is resting, start preparing the filling.
- In another large bowl add the spinach, ricotta, Grana Padano, the egg yolk, a sprinkle of nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mix well until completely mixed together and then transfer the filling to a pastry bag.
- After letting the pasta dough rest for 30 minutes start rolling it out using a rolling pin (NO pasta machine for our Chef Luca’s recipes, but the traditional wooden rolling pin, as our grandmothers use back home).
- Once the desired thickness is reached, which is about 0.30 cm, dust the counter and the dough with flour and lay out the long sheet of pasta.
- Using the pastry bag, place about a tablespoon of filling 5cm apart on half the sheet of pasta. Folding the unfilled half over the filling. Using your fingers, gently press out air pockets around each mound of filling, forming a seal.
- Time to cook! Boil the ravioli in salted water for 3-4 minutes. Ravioli rise to the top when cooked, so be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Strain out the cooked ravioli.
- Final touch. In a frying pan melt the butter and add the vegetable stock. Let them simmer for a few minutes and then add the ravioli. Gently fry it for a few minutes.
- Place the ravioli on a plate, garnish it with fresh chopped basil and grate some Grana Padano over it.
Buon Appetito…