Ravioli

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Digital kitchen scale
• •Hand-cranked pasta machine or long rolling pin
• •7-cup food processor for Stuffing C
• •Fine-mesh sieve for Stuffing C
• •6 cm fluted ravioli wheel or square cutter
• •Large piping bag or two teaspoons
• •Wide 6-quart pot
• •Spider or broad slotted spoon
• •Large rimmed tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose one farce

   Choose Stuffing A, B, or C. Each formula is scaled to fill one batch of pasta and serve four; do not make all three unless you intend to feed a crowd. Stuffing A is the mildest and most delicate, Stuffing B is dark and deeply savory, and Stuffing C is the boldest, with liver, anchovy, garlic, and basil.

2. 2

   Press the greens dry

   For your chosen farce, reach for the spinach, and the borage if making Stuffing A, already prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273). Cool them completely, then squeeze until no water beads between your fingers before weighing and chopping. Wet greens make a loose filling that dampens the pasta and weakens its seal; if they still glisten, wrap them in a clean towel and press again. This dryness is part of the dish, not brigade scaffolding.

   Weigh spinach and borage after cooking and pressing. Their raw volume varies wildly, while the finished weight preserves the source proportions.
3. 3

   Knead the pasta

   Mound the flour on the work surface or place it in a wide bowl. Make a well, add the eggs and salt, and draw in the flour until a rough dough forms. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth, firm, and elastic. If dry crumbs refuse to join after several minutes, add water one teaspoon at a time; if the dough clings to the board, dust with only enough flour to release it. Wrap tightly and rest at room temperature for 45 minutes. The rest lets the dough relax so it rolls thin without springing back.

4. 4

   Mix Stuffing A

   If you chose Stuffing A, mix the finely chopped cooked chicken, crushed cooked calf brain, pressed fromage blanc, spinach and borage from Blanchings (No. 273), Parmesan, whole egg, yolk, basil, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Work just until evenly combined. The mixture should hold a rounded teaspoon without flowing but remain soft enough to pass through a piping bag.

5. 5

   Mix Stuffing B

   If you chose Stuffing B, mix the cold finely chopped daube, spinach from Blanchings (No. 273), chopped shallot, puréed cooked calf brain, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Chop the daube by hand rather than reducing it to paste; the beef should remain discernible inside the tender farce.

6. 6

   Pound Stuffing C

   If you chose Stuffing C, melt the sautéing butter over medium heat and toss in the chicken livers. Brown them lightly, then add the shallot, parsley, and garlic and cook until the shallot softens and the livers are nearly cooked through. Cool for 10 minutes. Process the liver mixture finely, then add the spinach from Blanchings (No. 273), anchovy, softened butter, beaten egg, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and basil in that order. Process until smooth and rub the mixture through a fine sieve. The food processor replaces the mortar and the long pounding; the sieve stays because its silken texture is part of this farce.

7. 7

   Test the seasoning

   Chill the chosen farce for 20 minutes, then fry a teaspoon of it thoroughly in a dab taken from the finishing butter. Taste it inside a small folded scrap of pasta dough if possible. It should seem a touch more highly seasoned than you would serve alone, because the paste mutes all. If it tastes flat, add salt a pinch at a time; if it feels too soft, chill it another 20 minutes and let it drain briefly in a fine sieve. Ça se rattrape.

   Never taste these farces raw. Each contains uncooked egg, and Stuffing C also contains poultry liver.
8. 8

   Roll thin sheets

   Divide the rested dough into four pieces and keep three wrapped. Flatten the first piece, pass it through the widest pasta-machine setting, fold it in thirds, and repeat twice to square and strengthen it. Roll through successively narrower settings until the sheet is thin enough for the shadow of your fingers to show through, usually the next-to-last setting. Dust sparingly with flour and cover the sheet while rolling the rest. Thick paste buries the filling; thin, supple paste carries it.

9. 9

   Fill and seal

   Lay one sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place rounded teaspoons of cold farce in two rows, leaving about 5 cm between portions. Brush around the filling very lightly with water, lay a second sheet over it, and press from the filling outward so no air remains trapped. Seal firmly, then cut into 6 cm squares with a wheel or cutter. If the surface has dried and refuses to seal, brush it with water and wait 15 seconds; if a small tear appears, press on a wafer-thin scrap of dough as a patch. Set the ravioli in one layer on a semolina-dusted tray and cover them.

10. 10

    Poach without crowding

    Bring a wide pot of water to a boil, add the pasta-water salt, then reduce the water to a lively simmer. Cook the ravioli in two or three batches, stirring once very gently so they do not stick. Poach for 4 to 6 minutes, depending on thickness and whether they were chilled, until the pasta is tender and the filling reaches 74°C (165°F). Test one before draining the batch. A hard rolling boil can burst the seals; if one opens, lower the heat at once, stop stirring, and lift out the intact ravioli with a spider. The rest are still entirely savable.

11. 11

    Mount with butter

    Reserve ½ cup of cooking water, then transfer the ravioli to a wide warm pan with ¼ cup of that water. Bring it just to a simmer, remove the pan from the heat, and swirl in the cold butter a few cubes at a time. This is monter au beurre, finishing by whisking in butter, and it makes a light emulsion that clings without hiding the farce. If the butter separates, add a tablespoon of cool cooking water and swirl off the heat until it comes together. Spoon onto a warm serving platter, finish with Parmesan if wanted, and serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask an inspected specialist butcher for cleaned, poached calf brain with the membrane removed. If it cannot be sourced safely and legally, choose Stuffing C; replacing brain invisibly would be a promise the dish cannot keep.
• •Use leftover daube for Stuffing B, including meat that has absorbed its sauce but no loose spoonfuls of sauce. The filling needs the daube's concentration, not enough liquid to weaken the pasta.
• •Young borage leaves have a mild cucumber note and belong in Stuffing A. If borage is genuinely unavailable, replace its 43 g with the same cooked and pressed weight of spinach; the ravioli remain sound, though that fresh green accent changes.
• •A hand-cranked pasta machine is the honest home equivalent for a brigade rolling long sheets across a marble bench. A rolling pin also works, but divide the dough into eight pieces and roll from the center outward until each is nearly translucent.
• •Freeze the shaped ravioli before cooking if the dinner party requires calm at the last moment. Butter, not margarine, finishes them; the butter and cooking water must emulsify into a sheen, not collect as a greasy puddle.
• •Serve with a light red from Beaujolais for Stuffing B, or a dry white from Savoie with Stuffing A or C. Keep the plate simple, because cooking well is not cooking fancy.

Advance Preparation

• •The cooked chicken, daube, calf brain, and vegetables prepared through Blanchings (No. 273) can be readied a day ahead and chilled separately. Mix the chosen farce only when every component is cold.
• •The pasta dough can be kneaded and refrigerated up to one day ahead. Bring it back toward room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling so it bends without cracking.
• •Shape the ravioli up to 6 hours ahead, arrange them in one layer on a semolina-dusted tray, cover, and refrigerate. Turn them once if the underside begins to feel damp.
• •For batch cooking, freeze uncooked ravioli in one layer until firm, then transfer them to an airtight container for up to one month. Cook directly from frozen at a gentle simmer, allowing about 2 additional minutes and checking one before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 550g)