Spinach Ricotta ravioli with walnut-sage butter

Weekend, sweet weekend. Finally I have more than 2.5 minutes to cook!

This dish is not a fast one, it requires some time and effort. Is it worth it? No doubt!

I do believe making your own spaghetti or fettucini is really kind of wasted time. Nowadays you can find the most amazing Italian pasta in either small Italian specialty stores or some of the larger organic markets. However, Ravioli, Tortellini or any other stuffed pasta is a whole different story! This is where ingredients and preparation make all the difference. Try it yourself, you will see.

The first time I tried to make my own pasta (many years ago) I ended up ordering takeout pizza. The kitchen looked like a battlefield, and “food” was not the first thing that hit my mind when looking at those thick little rubberballs that were floating in my pot. Once I bought a pasta maker, things changed completely. I highly recommend getting one of these machines (around $80 online) if you want to make your own pasta.

Ingredients: 2 cups of all purpose flour (or a “00″ type Italian flour, available online), 3 eggs, 5 oz fresh spinach, 5 oz ricotta, 1-2 cloves of garlic (smashed), 2-3 oz or walnuts, 2 oz butter, fresh sage, salt & pepper

• Place the flour in a bowl, form a well in the middle. Crack the eggs into the well. Beat the eggs with a fork, then start mixing the flour. After a while place the dough on a floured surface and start kneading it with your hands. Keep kneading until a smooth and silky dough forms, about 8-10 minutes. Cover dough with plastic foil and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Steam the spinach for 2-3 minutes, chop in small pieces. In a bowl, mix spinach, ricotta, garlic, a pinch of nutmeg, salt & pepper. Set aside.
• Cut the dough into 4 portions. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough so that it’s just wide enough to fit into your pastamaker.
• Make some space on the kitchen table or countertop, you will need it now!
• Set the adjustable rolls of your pastamaker to the widest setting. Slowly roll each sheet through the pastamaker and lay it out on the table.
• When done, set pastamaker rolls to the next (more narrow) setting and run all sheets through again. Repeat until you get to the most narrow setting.
• Place a about a teaspoon of the ricotta-mix on one of the pasta sheets, about 2-3 inches apart. Place a second sheet on top and gently press the two sheets together, carefully working around the ricotta mix.
• Using a pasta cutter, cut out the ravioli, remove excess dough.
• Gently simmer ravioli in lightly salted water for about 5-7 minutes or until done. Drain carefully, so they don’t break!
• In a small pan, melt the butter (medium heat), add the walnuts and some chopped sage. Let the butter brown very lightly, remove pan from heat.
• Arrange ravioli on a plate, drizzle with the walnut-butter and sprinkle with some extra sage and fresh cracked pepper.Enjoy!