Making Your Own Stuffed Pasta - removing the fear and adding the fun

Since our first trip to Italy in 2008, we’ve been missing that fresh, delicate, stuffed pasta that is ubiquitous in Emilia-Romagna. In particular, the zucca capallecci in Ferrara still haunts my taste buds.

So, for Valentines Day, I decided to make stuffed pasta as a special present for David. Not only would I make the pasta by hand, but I would use our pasta machine, covered in an inch of dust, for the first time. I usually roll my pasta out by hand when making noodles.

I also decided to create a new filling: I figured if I’m going to take on this project, might as well go all the way. So, here we go…

Stuffed pasta with fresh ricotta cheese, braised leeks and beet greens in a walnut-butter sauce

Take two cups of flour and make a well in the center. I use a large flat salad bowl to do this which saves me some cleaning time. Break two extra large eggs into the well and beat gently with a fork until well blended. Don’t worry about mixing flour in at this point. Gradually scoop more flour into the beaten egg until you have a soft dough. At this point, I use my hands and knead in whatever flour I need until the dough is still soft, but only slightly sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest for 30-60 minutes.

For the filling – place 1 cup fresh, whole milk ricotta cheese in medium bowl. Finely chop the white part of one leek and the tops of 4 medium sized beets (cut off the stems up to the leaves). Saute the leeks in some olive oil for about 5 minutes, then add the beet greens. Saute both until both are tender and let cool for 10 minutes.

Mix the leeks and greens into the ricotta plus one egg yolk about about ¼ teaspoon salt, several grindings of fresh pepper, and just a few sprinkles of nutmeg. Set aside.

Set up your pasta machine and spread out two kitchen towels that have been dusted with flour. Divide your dough in four pieces and beginning on the first setting, put the dough through the machine, lightly dust this “sheet” with flour and repeat. I went to setting # 5, but #6 would make an even thinner more delicate pasta sheet.

Note: Before rolling out your last pasta sheet, fill up a 6 qt pan with water with 2 tsp of salt and heat to boiling.

I roll out and fill one sheet of pasta at a time to prevent it from drying. Once you roll out one sheet, trim it down to a square and determine how large you want your ravioli to be. For an average size, you will need a strip about 4 inches wide that can be folded over. Drop about 2 teaspoons of filling about 2 inches apart on one half of the strip, keeping at least ½ inch from each edge. Moisten the edges slightly (you can dip your finger in water or use a pastry brush – this is optional, but I like to be sure the ravioli do not break open during the cooking.) then fold one side on top of the other. Press the pasta down around the filling and when sealed, separate using a knife or pastry wheel. Place on a very lightly floured towel while rolling out and filling the rest of the dough.

Cooking the pasta and tossing in the sauce is the easiest part…

Finely grind/pulverize ½ cup of walnuts and grate 1 cup of Grana Padano. Place ¼ cup olive oil and ¼ cup butter in a saucepan. Add two whole garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley and sauté for 5 minutes then remove the garlic. Turn heat to lowest possible setting.

Cook 10-15 ravioli in the boiling water – they will cook very fast, about 1-2 minutes – enough to get them hot is all that’s needed. Gently drain and place in a warmed serving dish (I fill mine with hot water and let it set for 10 minutes). Pour the butter/olive oil sauce over the ravioli, then the ground walnuts and ½ of the grated cheese. Toss gently and taste. Correct for salt/pepper and serve immediately with additional grated cheese.

Next step: Enjoy watching dinner guests moan and eat with their eyes closed.