Giant Ravioli With Truffle Butter Food

RAVIOLO WITH EGG YOLK TRUFFLE BUTTER

Steps:

• Place spinach in a steamer basket set over simmering water. Cook until spinach is wilted; drain. Heat butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook until coated with butter, about 2 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Finely chop spinach and add to a medium bowl along with ricotta, and half the Parmesan cheese. Season with nutmeg, white pepper, and salt. Stir to combine. Transfer filling mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round plain tip; set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Set the rollers of a hand-cranked or electric pasta machine at their widest opening. Flatten dough with the palms of your hands; dust lightly with flour. Roll dough through widest setting. Keep rolling dough through the machine on decreasing settings until you have rolled it through the first six settings. Cut dough in half crosswise.
• Lay one piece of dough flat on work surface. Using a 2-inch round cutter, gently mark 4 circles in dough, about 5 inches apart. Using circle as a guide, pipe filling around each circle and continue piping to form a 1-inch high edge. Place 1 egg yolk in the center of each circle; season with salt and white pepper. Brush a little cold water around filling and gently place remaining piece of dough over filling and yolks to cover. Gently press edges together to seal, eliminating as much air as possible. Center a 4-inch fluted round cutter around filling and cut each raviolo.
• Add salt to boiling water and return to boil. Gently transfer ravioli to boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, place butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until melted and lightly browned. Drain ravioli and divide among 4 serving plates. Pour over browned butter and garnish with remaining cheese and shaved truffles, if desired.

GREEN PEA RAVIOLI WITH TRUFFLE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Force peas through the fine disk of a food mill into a bowl to remove skins.
• Cook shallot in oil in a small skillet over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Remove from heat and stir into pea puree with cheese and crumbs. Season filling with salt and pepper.
• Fill ravioli with a level teaspoon of filling in each. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with a dry kitchen towel. Ravioli may be made up to this point 1 day ahead, covered and refrigerated or they can be frozen.
• To make the sauce: Simmer the vinegar and wine over medium heat and reduce until it forms a light syrup (watch carefully toward the end as it tends to burn). Add the cream and reduce heat to low. Whisk in butter pieces one at a time, until emulsified. Add truffle oil, if using. Salt to taste. Set aside and keep warm until ravioli are cooked.
• Cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes, then drain. Toss with sauce then serve immediately.

GIANT RAVIOLI WITH TRUFFLE BUTTER

Steps:

• 1 Prepare the pasta. Then, mix together the ricotta and grated cheese, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Scrape the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip or a heavy-duty plastic bag, cutting off one corner to create a 1/2-inch opening. 2 Keeping the remaining pasta covered, lay out one strip on a countertop. Fold the strip in half crosswise, then unfold to crease the center. Leaving a 1/2-inch border all around, pipe a circle of the cheese mixture on the pasta to one side of the crease. Separate one egg, setting the white aside for another use. Carefully drop the yolk into the center of the circle. Lightly brush around the cheese with cool water. Fold the other half of the pasta over the filling. With a fork, press the edges of the pasta together to seal. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling. 3 Bring at least 2 quarts of water to a boil. Lower the heat until the water is simmering. Add salt to taste. Carefully place the ravioli in the water and cook just until the pasta is tender, about 3 minutes. 4 Spoon a little of the butter into each of 4 warm serving dishes. Remove the ravioli one at a time with a slotted spoon. Place a raviolo in each dish and spoon on the remaining butter. With a swivel-blade vegetable peeler, shave thin slices of the truffle, if using, or flakes of Parmigiano over the top. Serve immediately. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.