Spinach Ricotta Ravioli
A classic ravioli filling. Top with any tomato sauce.
- 2 cups flour
- Salt to taste
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup (about 2 ounces) cooked spinach, squeezed dry and chopped
- 1½ cups ricotta, drained for a few minutes in a strainer
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- Small grating of nutmeg
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
- Combine 1½ cups of the flour and a large pinch of salt on a counter or large board. Make a well in the middle. Into this well, break the whole eggs. Beat them with a fork, slowly and gradually incorporating a little of the flour at a time. When it incorporating a little of the flour at a time. When it becomes too hard to stir with the fork, use your hands. When all the flour has been mixed in, knead the dough, pushing it against the board and folding it repeatedly until it is not at all sticky and is quite stiff. Sprinkle with a little of the reserved flour and clean your hands. Cover the dough with plastic or a cloth and let it rest for about 30 minutes. (You can store the dough in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic, until you're ready to roll it out, for up to 24 hours.)
- Clamp a pasta machine to the counter; sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour. Cut off about one third of the dough; wrap the rest in plastic or cloth while you work. Roll the dough lightly in the flour and use your hands to flatten it into a rectangle about the width of the machine. Set the machine to its highest (that is, thickest) setting and crank the dough through. If it sticks, dust it with a little more flour. Repeat. Set the machine to its next-thinnest setting and repeat. Each time, if the pasta sticks, sprinkle it with a little more flour and, each time, put the dough through the machine twice.
- Continue to work your way down (or up, as the case may be—each machine is numbered differently) through the numbers. If at any point the dough tears badly, bunch it together and start again (you will quickly get the hang of it). Use as again (you will quickly get the hang of it). Use as much flour as you need to, but in small amounts each time. Pass the dough through the machine's thinnest setting, only once. (If this fails, pass it through the next-thinnest once.) Flour the dough lightly, cover it, and set it aside. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
- Combine the egg yolk with the spinach, ricotta, parsley, garlic, nutmeg, Parmesan, and salt to taste. Cut each sheet into two or more 4-inch-wide strips andCut each sheet into two or more 4-inch-wide strips. Drop heaping teaspoons of filling at about 1½-inch intervals about 1 inch from one long edge of the strip (that is, about 3 inches from the other edge). Fold the dough over onto itself, pressing with your fingers to seal. Trim the dough with a sharp knife or fluted pastry wheel, then cut into individual ravioli. (You can prepare the ravioli to this point, dust with cornmeal, and refrigerate for up to a day or freeze for up to a week or so.)
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the ravioli. Cook them for just a few minutes, until they rise to the surface. Drain, sauce, and serve immediately.