Transforming fresh pasta dough into soft pillows of ravioli is my idea of fun — and easier than you might think. Pasta can be stuffed with just about any filling but if you’re a mushroom lover, you’ll fall hard for these savoury ravioli. Stuffed with fresh and rehydrated wild mushrooms, herbs and cheese, these ravioli are irresistible. The sauce adds even more intense flavour, thanks to the mushroom stock (the liquid used to soak the dehydrated mushrooms).
This is a recipe to prepare when you have time to putter in the kitchen. I prefer to make the filling and sauce in advance. (They actually taste better after lingering a day or two in the fridge.) And fresh pasta, while simple to prepare, is more fun and manageable when you have a friend to help. You’ll appreciate an extra pair of hands when transferring sheets of pasta to your work surface.
Makes about 48 ravioli
■ 2 whole eggs
■ 2 egg yolks
■ 1 Tbsp oil
■ 2 Tbsp water
■ Kosher salt
■ 1 3/4 cup flour
■ Pasta roller (a rolling pin works too)
■ 2 1/2 inch ravioli stamp
In a small bowl or cup, mix together the eggs, yolks, oil, and water. In a large bowl, combine the salt and flour. Pour the egg mixture over the flour and mix with a fork, gathering up the flour until the mixture forms a ragged dough. If necessary, add additional water, by the teaspoonful, to incorporate all the flour.
Transfer the dough onto a flour-dusted work surface and knead for a minute or two until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Working with one portion at a time (cover the remain-ing), and using a rolling pin, flatten the dough thin enough to fit the dough through the pasta machine’s widest setting.
Dust each portion of pasta with flour on both sides and feed it through the machine’s rollers at its widest setting. Fold the pasta in half, dust with more flour, and repeat. Gradually narrow the rollers after each feed, flouring as necessary to prevent sticking, until the pasta is smooth and thin, about ⅛ inch thick. Repeat with the balance of the dough, covering the dough with plastic wrap or a tea towel to prevent it from drying out.
Note: If not using a pasta machine, use a rolling pin, to flatten the dough into long strips about 6 inches wide and ⅛ inch thick.
Before assembling the ravioli, it helps to first visualize the process: a strip of pasta will be dotted with the filling, at equal intervals, then covered with another strip of pasta and cut and sealed with a ravioli stamp.
Place a strip of fresh pasta dough on a floured work surface. To help guide the filling onto the pasta, create a target by marking a very light impression of the ravioli stamp onto the pasta strip, in equal intervals, without cutting into the dough. Place onto the centre of each target a nugget of mushroom filling, about half a teaspoon. Cover with another sheet of pasta and stamp out the lumps of filling with the ravioli stamp.
Repeat with the remaining pasta. Save and re-roll any leftover trim for fettuccini ribbons.
Place the filled ravioli onto a parchment-lined surface and cover with plastic wrap. Continue with the remaining pasta and filling.
If serving immediately, toss the fresh ravioli into a large 6-quart pot of rapidly boiling, generously salted water for a minute or two. Carefully remove the pasta with a slotted spoon and transfer to the heated mushroom sauce. Thin the sauce as necessary with a bit of pasta water.
Serve on warmed plates.
You’ll need to chop the ingredients finely, otherwise they won’t fit neatly into the ravioli pockets.
■ 1 oz (28 g) dried assorted wild mushrooms such as chanterelle, porcini, black trumpet, cauliflower, pine and lobster mushrooms (often sold in ½ ounce packets)
■ 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
■ 3/4 cup finely diced shallots, about 2 shallots
■ kosher salt
■ 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
■ 3 cups finely chopped cleaned crimini or white button mushrooms, about 3/4 pound
■ Zest from one washed lemon
■ 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
■ 1/4 cup freshly grated Reggiano Parmesan
■ 1/4 cup goat cheese
■ 2 Tbsp freshly chopped thyme
■ 1 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley
Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl or large measuring cup and cover with 2 cups boiling water.
In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Add the shallots and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, stir until aromatic, about 20 seconds. Add the chopped mushrooms, another ¼ teaspoon of salt, and cook for a few minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked through.
Remove the dried mushrooms from their soaking liquid (retain the liquid for the sauce) and chop them very finely. Discard any tough bits or stems. Add the rehydrated mushrooms to the cooked mushroom mixture and cook for about two minutes. Off heat, add the lemon zest, lemon juice, Parmesan, goat cheese, and herbs. Mix to combine, then check the seasoning—the filling should be highly seasoned as the flavours become muted when encased in pasta. Add additional lemon juice or salt as necessary.
Cool the filling completely before filling the ravioli.
■ Mushroom liquid from the dried mushrooms
■ 4 Tbsp vegetable oil, plus more as needed
■ 3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms, about 3/4 pounds
■ 3/4 cup dry white wine
■ 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
■ 1/2 cup freshly grated Reggiano Parmesan
■ 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
■ kosher salt
■ Freshly chopped parsley
■ Lemon zest
■ Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
■ Freshly grated black pepper
Strain the mushroom liquid through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Working in batches, so as not to crowd the pan, add the mush-rooms in a single layer, add a pinch of salt, and cook over medium heat until lightly browned, shaking the pan once the mushrooms have had time to brown on one side. Repeat with the remain-ing batches, adding a pinch of salt to each batch.
Return the cooked mushrooms to the pan, increase the heat to medium high, and add the wine. Continue cooking until the wine has nearly evaporated. Add the strained mushroom liquid and continue cooking until the liquid has nearly evaporated. Add the cream and the cheese and continue to cook the mixture until the cream has reduced and thickened enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon.
Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and lemon juice as desired. Add the warm ravioli to the mushroom sauce, coating the pasta with the sauce.
Serve in warmed shallow bowls and garnish with parsley, lemon, Parmesan and freshly ground pepper, if desired.
Join The Discussion