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Shortcut ricotta ravioli, butter sauce

Homemade egg pasta filled with a no-cook ricotta and pesto mixture, tossed in browned butter.

Prep
1 h 18
Cook
10 min
Total
1 h 28
Yield
Serves 4, about 40 to 48 ravioli
Going in
Intermediate
Steps
8

The pasta is made from scratch. Everything else comes out of a tub, a jar or a shaker, so the whole recipe is about six items at a discount supermarket if you already have flour, eggs and butter at home.

The jarred pesto replaces fresh herbs, garlic and part of the salt in one spoonful. It is the one item worth buying above the cheapest tier.

Prep time includes a 30 minute rest for the dough, during which there is nothing to do except drain the ricotta. Active work is about 48 minutes.

Method 8 steps

  1. Make the dough 10 min

    Mound the flour on the counter and make a well in the centre. Crack in the eggs and add the salt.

    Beat the eggs with a fork, pulling in flour from the inner walls of the well until the mixture comes together in a shaggy mass. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and springy.

    The dough will feel stiff and dry compared to bread dough. That is correct. A wet dough will not hold a thin sheet.

  2. Rest the dough and drain the ricotta

    Wrap the dough tightly in plastic and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes.

    While it rests, tip the ricotta into a fine sieve set over a bowl and let it drain.

    Resting relaxes the gluten so the dough rolls thin without springing back. Draining matters more: discount ricotta runs wet, and a wet filling is the difference between sealed ravioli and blowouts.

  3. Stir the filling 3 min

    Stir the drained ricotta, Parmesan, pesto, egg yolk, garlic powder and salt together in a bowl. There is no cooking involved.

    Taste it and adjust the salt.

    Season it harder than seems right. Plain pasta surrounds it and mutes everything.

  4. Roll out the sheets 15 min

    Cut the dough into four pieces and keep the ones you are not using wrapped.

    Roll each piece as thin as you can: the second thinnest setting on a pasta machine, or until nearly translucent with a rolling pin. Dust with flour if it sticks.

    Aim for a sheet you can read print through. Thick pasta makes the finished ravioli doughy at the sealed edges.

  5. Fill and cut 20 min

    Spoon teaspoon sized mounds of filling along half of each sheet, spaced about 4 cm apart. Wet the pasta around each mound with a finger dipped in water.

    Fold the other half of the sheet over the top. Press from the centre of each mound outward to push out trapped air, then cut between them with a pizza wheel or knife. Set the finished ravioli on a floured tray.

    Trapped air expands in boiling water and splits the seam. Pressing outward from the middle is what forces it out.

  6. Boil the ravioli 4 min

    Bring a wide pot of well salted water to a gentle boil. Cook the ravioli in batches until they float and the edges feel tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.

    Keep the water at a lazy boil rather than a hard rolling one. Vigorous water knocks the parcels against each other and bursts them.

  7. Brown the butter 5 min

    While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. It will foam, then quieten down as the milk solids turn golden and the smell turns nutty.

    Pull the pan off the heat and stir in the dried sage and lemon juice. If using fresh sage, add the leaves to the pan about 30 seconds before the butter is ready so they crisp.

    Butter goes from golden to burnt in under 30 seconds. Take it off the heat as soon as it smells like toasted hazelnuts.

  8. Toss and serve 2 min

    Lift the ravioli straight from the pot into the skillet with a slotted spoon, carrying a little water with them. Add a further splash of pasta water and toss gently until the sauce turns glossy and coats the pasta.

    Finish with black pepper and extra Parmesan.

    The starchy pasta water is what binds the butter into a sauce instead of leaving it as a pool of fat.