LAMINATED PARSLEY RAVIOLI STUFFED WITH PARSLEY, CHIVE AND CHÈVRE
There’s nothing better than a hug from your grandmother. I have some pretty special memories of times that I spent with my “mama,” simple moments that come back to me when I eat certain dishes or smell Chanel No. 5. As special as she was, I can’t help but wish that I also had an Italian grandmother, a nonna who could guide me in the kitchen. We would sip wine and roll out pasta and set the table together for a feast.
I may not have a nonna, but I can still learn new ways to enjoy making pasta, and I loved this Press Your Pasta challenge. Rolling out sheets of dough using my KitchenAid® Pasta Roller makes it simple, and layering fresh herbs between the sheets creates a laminated pasta that is sure to impress. The good news is that it’s not as hard as it seems, and it is so fun to make!
Start by mixing the ingredients for a basic pasta in your KitchenAid® Stand Mixer. Flour, eggs and a little water and salt is all it takes to create a ball of dough.
While the dough rests, work the filling by rinsing out fresh parsley. You will need to find some beautiful parsley leaves to laminate in the pasta, but the rest will be mixed with chèvre and eggs to create a delicious filling.
When the dough is ready to roll, flatten one piece and knead it through the Pasta Roller attachment on the Stand Mixer. It takes just several passes through the roller until it becomes supple. As you feed it through the Pasta Roller, adjust the settings so that it becomes thinner with each pass.
Place the parsley between layers of pasta and pass the pasta through the Pasta Roller once more to seal the herbs within the dough, laminating the parsley. At this point you can fill and press the ravioli with a ravioli cutter.
The ravioli is wonderful served in a brown butter sauce with fresh peas and herbs. The light sauce lets the pasta and the filling shine through. And if I had an Italian nonna, I’m willing to bet she would absolutely approve.
LAMINATED PARSLEY RAVIOLI STUFFED WITH PARSLEY, CHIVE AND CHÈVRE
Makes 4 servingsINGREDIENTS
For the pasta
4 large eggs, divided
1 tablespoon water
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh parsley leaves, rinsed and dried
For the ravioli filling
8 ounces chèvre
1 large egg
2 tablespoons minced chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the brown butter sauce with spring peas
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup fresh English peas, blanched
2 teaspoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped chives
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Place the eggs, water, flour and salt in the bowl of the KitchenAid® Professional 600™ Series 6-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer fitted with the flat beater. Mix on speed 2 for 30 seconds.
Remove the beater and attach the dough hook. Knead the dough on speed 2 for about 2 minutes. If the dough seems too wet or too dry, add some water or flour in small increments until the dough comes together as desired.
Transfer the dough onto a work surface and knead by hand for about 2 minutes, and form it into a ball. Let it rest for 20-30 minutes.
While the pasta dough rests, make the filling. In a bowl, mix together the chèvre, egg, chives, parsley, salt and pepper until well blended. Let it rest in the refrigerator while you finish making the pasta.
Divide the pasta dough into four pieces and keep covered so the dough does not dry out. Attach the KitchenAid® Pasta Roller attachment to the Stand Mixer. Set the adjustment knob on the Pasta Roller to setting 1 and turn the mixer to speed 2. Flatten one of the dough pieces to about 1 centimeter in width and feed the dough into the roller. Fold the dough in half and pass it through the roller again. Repeat this kneading process several times until the dough is smooth and pliable, and about the width of the pasta roller, lightly dusting with flour as you work to prevent the dough from sticking.
Turn the adjustment knob on the roller to setting 2 and feed the dough through the Pasta Roller. Change it to setting 3 and pass through again. Continue rolling the pasta until you have reached setting 5 or 6 (depending on how thick you would like your pasta). If necessary, cut the dough in half as it will get long, and this will make it easier to work with the dough.
Repeat with remaining pieces of pasta dough until you have long thin sheets.
Place parsley leaves on the pasta, about 2 inches apart, along a sheet of pasta dough. Lightly mist or brush water on the edges of the pasta and lay another sheet of pasta dough on top. With the pasta roller on setting 3, carefully pass it through, pressing the pasta together. Set aside. Repeat with remaining sheets of pasta.
To make the ravioli, place about 1 mounded teaspoon of chèvre filling on top of the parsley lam-inated pasta. Be careful not to overfill as the pasta will need to seal around the filling. Lightly brush or mist the edges of the pasta with water. Place another sheet of pasta on top, aligning the laminated parsley over the center of filling. Lightly press the pasta together. Use a 2 1/2 inch ravioli cutter to cut the ravioli. Repeat with remaining pasta dough and filling.
Bring a large pot of water to a simmer (avoid a rolling boil – the ravioli could break apart). Sea-son the water with salt and cook the ravioli for about 5 minutes, or until the ravioli floats to the top. Gently retrieve the ravioli with a slotted spoon and transfer to an oiled dish.
While the ravioli is cooking, make the browned butter sauce by melting the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook the sauce, stirring, for about 5-7 minutes, until the butter is golden brown. Skim any foam from the sauce and discard. Stir in the blanched peas. Remove from heat and add the fresh herbs, and season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle the browned butter sauce over the ravioli. Serve immediately.
