Pear And Pecorino Ravioli With Sage Butter Sauce Recipes

PEAR AND PECORINO RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Place pears in large bowl. If too much liquid, drain through fine strainer. Mix in pecorino, mascarpone and egg yolk.
• Place 1 wonton wrapper on work surface. Place 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons mixture in middle of wrapper. Brush edges with water, and fold wrapper over. Press firmly to seal.
• Fill 4-quart saucepan two-thirds full of water. Add salt; heat to boiling. Gently slide in 5 ravioli. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until done. Repeat until all of the ravioli is cooked.
• In 8- to 10-inch skillet, heat butter and sage over medium-high heat until butter is golden brown, reducing heat if needed to keep butter from burning. Remove sage; pour butter over ravioli. Sprinkle with extra cheese as desired.

BASIC RAVIOLI WITH A BUTTER-SAGE SAUCE

Steps:

• For the filling: Add the ricotta, Parmigiano and eggs and sprinkle with salt in a bowl. Adjust seasoning if needed. Put the filling in a pastry bag and reserve.
• For the pasta: Set the pasta roller on the widest setting (#1). Start with half the pasta dough; keep the other half covered until ready to use. Using your hands, flatten the dough as much as you can to facilitate it going through the pasta roller. Run the dough through the roller, twice dusting it in between rolls if it feels sticky. Fold the dough into thirds and turn it 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and run it through the pasta machine 2 to 3 times. Move the roller to the next setting (#2) and run the pasta through. Dust lightly with flour if the dough feels sticky. Continue to run the dough through the machine reducing the opening (or moving the setting to the next larger number) in between every roll. Stop when you get to the correct thinness, this will usually be around number 5 or 6 on the dial, but every machine is different, you will have to be the judge of your own pasta thickness.
• To assemble the ravioli: Lay out the dough on a flat surface. Brush the lower half of the dough (the part that is closest to you) lightly with water. This is the glue that will hold the ravioli together. Use the glue sparingly, if you use too much the pasta will slide and not stick. Pipe 1-inch balls of filling onto the pasta that has been brushed with water, leaving about 2 inches between each ball. Fold the top half of the pasta down over the filling to meet the bottom edge. Using your index fingers, poke around each filling ball to seal the ravioli shut, AND to make sure that there are no air bubbles. Using a fluted round cutter or a fluted pastry wheel or even a drinking glass, cut out each ravioli. Transfer to a sheet tray dusted with semolina or polenta and reserve until ready to use.
• To cook the ravioli and make the sauce: Add the butter to a large saute pan and bring to a medium heat. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and season with salt. Shake the pan to incorporate the butter and stock, and simmer until the stock has reduced a bit and the sauce looks velvety and is the consistency of heavy cream. If the sauce thickens too much, adjust the consistency with chicken stock. Add the sage and season with salt.
• Add the ravioli to the pot of boiling water and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully remove the ravioli from the cooking water and put them immediately into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil, shaking frequently to be sure that the ravioli don'(TM)t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Transfer the ravioli to a serving platter. Mangia Bene!
• Put the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a hole (this is also called a well) in the center of the flour pile that is about 8 inches wide (bigger is definitely better here). Crack all of the eggs and the yolk into the hole and add the olive oil, salt and water.
• Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, salt and water. Using the fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture; be careful not to break the sides of the well or the egg mixture will run all over your board and you will have a big mess! Also, don't worry about the lumps. When enough flour has been incorporated into the egg mixture that it will not run all over the place when the sides of the well are broken, begin to use your hands to really get everything well combined. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands and begin kneading with wet hands. When the mixture has really come together to a homogeneous mixture, THEN you can start kneading.
• When kneading it is VERY important to put your body weight into it, get on top of the dough to really stretch it and not tear the dough. Using the heels of your palms, roll the dough to create a very smooooooth, supple dough. When done, the dough should look VERY smooth and feel almost velvety. Kneading will usually take from 8 to 10 minutes for an experienced kneader and 10 to 15 for an inexperienced kneader. Put your body weight into it, you need to knead! This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and have fun!
• When the pasta has been kneaded to the perfect consistency, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least 1 hour. If using immediately do not refrigerate.
• Roll and cut the pasta into desired shape. How smooth and supple!

SAGE & BROWNED BUTTER RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Cook ravioli according to package directions. In a large heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Heat 5-7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring constantly. Immediately stir in sage and salt; remove from heat., Drain ravioli, reserving 2 tablespoons pasta water. Add ravioli, pasta water and lemon juice to butter mixture; gently toss to coat. Serve with cheese.

RAVIOLI WITH PEAS, TOMATOES AND SAGE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Melt butter in large, deep skillet.
• Add sage and parsley and cook over medium heat until butter starts to brown, about 3 minutes.
• Add cooked ravioli and lemon zest and toss to coat.
• Add peas and tomatoes and toss until heated through.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add parmesan cheese and toss to combine.

FRESH PEAR AND PECORINO RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Peel and core the pear, and shred it against the large holes of a box grater. Stir the shreds with the shredded cheese in a bowl, and blend in the mascarpone.
• Following the master method, page 189, roll dough strips for filling. For each raviolo, scoop a scant tablespoon of the filling, shape it round and drop in place. Cover and cut ravioli by master method.
• Cook the ravioli as in master method, page 192. Meanwhile, heat the butter until simmering in a large skillet and thin it with a cup of the boiling pasta water. Lay the cooked ravioli in the skillet, and coat with the hot butter. Remove the pan from the heat, and sprinkle over it the grated aged Pecorino, mixing gently so the cheese begins to melt into a sauce, then grind coarse black pepper all around.
• I serve these with a melted-butter sauce and sprinkles of black pepper and more Pecorino Romano-details are in the recipe. If you can, find a mild, one-year-old aged Pecorino for the finishing touch.