You may think that cooking could never be romantic, but I can tell you that it is, Hubby and I have just spent the most lovely evening making ravioli together. Every third weekend we are very lucky to be able to lose the Children for the weekend and spend some quality time together, we believe that after 6 years together, it is what keeps our relationship fresh and fun, we don’t forget who we are as a couple.
 
Weekends alone always include lovely food and good wine and this one is no exception. My lovely Son Olly brought me a pasta machine for my Birthday and I have been dying to try it out and the perfect recipe had to be my latest addiction to Antonio Carluccio’s, ravioli ricotta e spinaci. I love Antonio Carluccio and love his restaurants and have had this meal a few times and I was really pleased to find the recipe on his website.
 
I must admit, I didn’t expect it to turn out any where near as good as the restaurant,(especially as vast amounts of wine were consumed and Puccini was blaring out, all obviously helping to set the mood) but with a little team work with Hubby it was actually perfect. Pasta I know is time consuming to make and not something that you have time for every day, but when you have time, give it a try, its really rewarding and most of all, have fun, we did. The couple that make pasta together, stay together!!
 
Buon appetito
(Above photo of the legend himself, Antonio Carluccio)
Serves 4
 
160g 00 flour
240g Semolina
5 Whole eggs
300g Cooked spinach, drained and with as much water as possible squeezed out
600g Ricotta Cheese
Pinch of Nutmeg
To Taste Salt and Pepper
1 Egg Yolk
200g Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
A little vegetable stock
A knob of butter
A few leaves of fresh sage
A little reserved pasta cooking water
 
Start by making the dough: Pour the flour and semolina onto the worktop and make a well in the middle. Break the eggs into the well and mix well with a fork. Now start slowly drawing in the flour from the sides. Knead for at least 15 minutes until you reach a smooth texture. It is important that you do so because by kneading, the dough will become strong and the eggs will get blended perfectly so that you end up with a smooth dough of a uniform colour. Wet your hands when kneading if you feel the dough is too dry. This will stop you adding too much water to moisten the dough and making it too soft. Cover the dough with cling film and leave it to rest for at least 30 minutes. You can rest the dough overnight.
For the filling: Finely chop the spinach, mix in the ricotta, the seasoning and the egg yolk. Mix well until you get a smooth paste. Taste to make sure you filling is well seasoned before you start making the ravioli.
To make the ravioli: Roll the dough quite thinly. Keep dough not in use covered either with a damp cloth or cling film to stop it drying out. Cut a disc with a round cutter, (or a square with a pasta cutter) put a spoonful of filling in the middle, brush the edges with water and cover with another disc of pasta. Press gently with your fingers all around the pasta disc to get rid of the pockets of air.
To make the sauce: Fresh egg pasta cooks in 2 – 3 minutes, so don’t walk away from it, and make sure you start your sauce at the same time as you start cooking your pasta.
Cook the ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water. There is no need to add any oil. Meanwhile put some vegetable stock in a saucepan, add the butter and sage and let it melt. You can also mix butter and oil. When the pasta is ready drain, making sure that you keep two or three tablespoons of the pasta cooking water. Transfer the ravioli to the saucepan with the retained cooking water and sauté in the melted butter for a few seconds until the sauce thickens up. Take the saucepan off the heat, add a generous sprinkle of Parmigiano, let it melt and serve immediately.