Jamie Oliver Ravioli Food

AMAZING RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
• Start by making the Royal pasta dough. While it rests, make the filling.
• Trim and quarter the radicchio, peel the onion and slice into eighths, then place in a small roasting tray. Pour over the balsamic and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, toss to coat, then strip over half the thyme leaves, reserving any pretty tips.
• Cover with a sheet of wet scrunched-up greaseproof paper and roast for 1 hour.
• Prick the potatoes and dry-roast in a separate tray alongside until cooked through, then remove. Once cool enough to handle, scoop the potatoes out of their skins and mash the insides in a bowl.
• Finely chop the radicchio and onion, then stir into the potato with 1 tablespoon of the balsamic juices from the tray. Finely grate in most of the Parmesan and all the fontina, mix well, then season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper. Leave to cool completely.
• On a clean flour-dusted surface, roll out the pasta dough so it's 1mm thick and roughly 16cm wide (the width of a standard pasta machine).
• Spoon heaped teaspoons of filling evenly down the pasta strips, slightly off centre, leaving a 5cm gap between each. Brush the exposed pasta lightly with water and fold the sheets in half over the filling.
• Gently seal around the filling, pushing out the air - you can cut them into 8cm circles with a pastry cutter or into squares with a knife. Place them on a semolina-dusted tray as you go - you'll get about 18 ravioli in total.
• Toast the hazelnuts in a large frying pan on a medium heat until golden, then lightly bash and tip into a bowl.
• Cook the ravioli two portions at a time in a pan of boiling salted water for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the frying pan back on a low heat and add a splash of olive oil, a third of the butter, and a third of the remaining thyme leaves and tips. Fry until golden, then remove from the heat.
• Scoop the pasta straight into the buttery sauce, bringing some starchy cooking water with it, add a fine grating of Parmesan, toss gently, then spoon on to warmed plates.
• Finish each portion with a scattering of hazelnuts, a little extra virgin olive oil, some extra Parmesan and a few small drips of the balsamic juices, if you like. Serve up to your first lucky guests, while you crack on with the next two portions.

SQUASH & RICOTTA RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
• In a tray, roast the squash whole for 1 hour. Add the ricotta and roast for another 30 minutes, or until the squash is cooked through.
• Halve it in the tray, discarding the skin and seeds. Pick, finely chop and add the basil leaves, then mash it all with the ricotta, scraping up any sticky bits from the tray. Taste, season to perfection, and cool.
• To make the pasta dough, put the eggs and flour into a food processor and whiz into a ball of dough. Knead on a flour-dusted surface until smooth. Cut in half, wrap in clingfilm and rest for 30 minutes.
• Flatten one piece of dough by hand. Run it through the thickest setting on a pasta machine, then take the rollers down two settings and run it through again to make it thinner.
• Now, fold it in half and run it back through the thickest setting again, repeating this a few times for super-smooth dough. Start rolling the sheet down through each setting, lightly dusting with flour as you go. Turn the crank with one hand while the other maintains just a little tension to avoid any kinks or folds.
• Take it right down to 1mm, then lay the sheet flat and stamp out circles with a 12cm cutter.
• Working quickly, spoon 1 heaped teaspoon of filling into the middle of each, lightly brush the exposed pasta with water, fold into half-moon shapes over the filling, gently pressing to squeeze out any air, and seal. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
• Warm the sauce in a pan over a medium heat, and in batches cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water for just 2 minutes.
• Toss the pasta with the sauce and rocket and serve with finely grated Parmesan, finished with a few drips of extra virgin olive oil.

BOLOGNESE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Put all the minced meat into your largest pan on a high heat with a good lug of oil and a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes, or until golden, stirring regularly.
• Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the garlic, onions, carrots and celery. When the mince has got a good colour, add all the chopped veg and cook for a further 10 minutes, then add the Chianti and cook it away.
• Pour in the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon, and add half a tin's worth of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender and the sauce is super-thick. Remove from the heat to cool, then finely grate and stir in the Parmesan.
• Now it's time to assemble your pasta. Following the instructions for making the pasta dough, roll out your dough to 1mm thick, then make your ravioli about 7cm square. I work with a quarter of the pasta at a time to give more control.
• Use a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each one, sealing the edges with a light brushing of water and pushing out the air - you should get about 50 to 60 ravioli from this amount of pasta. Place them on a semolina-dusted tray as you go.
• Freeze the remaining Bolognese (you'll have roughly half left) for a rainy day, or make a double batch of pasta and freeze as ravioli - you can cook them from frozen in the sauce.
• Put a pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta.
• For the sauce, peel and roughly chop the garlic and deseed and finely chop the chillies. Place a pan on a medium heat, add a lug of oil and the garlic and chilli, and fry for a few minutes, or until very lightly golden. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, or until thickened and reduced, then remove from the heat and blitz until smooth with a stick blender. Taste and season to perfection, then place back on a very low heat.
• Cook the ravioli in the boiling salted water for 3 minutes, or until tender, then use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the sauce. Gently toss together and simmer for another couple of minutes, then divide between warm bowls, scatter with baby basil leaves and serve with a few extra gratings of Parmesan, if you like.

JOE WICKS' RAVIOLI ALLA NAPOLETANA

Steps:

• Pile the flour into a large bowl or a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the well (pop the egg whites in the freezer for making meringues another day). Use a fork to whip up the egg yolks, then gradually bring the flour in from the outside. When it becomes too hard to mix, get your clean floured hands in there and bring it together into a ball of dough. Knead on a flour-dusted surface for around 4 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Wrap in a damp cloth and leave to relax for 30 minutes.
• To make the filling, tear one piece of prosciutto into rough pieces and finely chop the other. Place in a bowl, finely grate in the lemon zest and add a good grating of nutmeg (about ¼), then grate in the Parmesan and crumble in the ricotta. Use a fork to mash everything together and season with black pepper.
• On a clean flour-dusted surface, roll out the pasta dough so it's 1mm thick. Spoon heaped teaspoons of filling every 7cm or so along your sheet of pasta in the very middle. Brush the exposed pasta lightly with water and fold the sheet of pasta in half over the filling.
• Working from one side, gently seal around the filling, pushing out the air. Cut into squares with a knife or roller cutter, or stamp them out with a pastry cutter, placing them on a semolina-dusted tray as you go.
• To make the quick tomato sauce, peel and finely slice the garlic. Place a large pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook the garlic and chilli flakes for 2 minutes, or until lightly golden, then scrunch in the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and tear in the basil leaves, reserving a few baby ones for garnish.
• Cook the ravioli in a large pan of boiling salted water for 3 minutes, or until tender, then drain - you may need to work in batches.
• To make the lemon sauce, melt the butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat and add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Toss in the cooked ravioli, then grate in the Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of oil and a little starchy cooking water.
• To serve, spoon the tomato sauce onto serving plates, and top with the lemon sauce-coated ravioli. Grate over a little Parmesan and sprinkle with the reserved baby basil leaves, to finish.

RAVIOLI WITH POTATO, WATERCRESS, AND CHEESES

Steps:

• Wash and peel the potatoes, put them into well-salted, boiling water with the garlic and cook until the potatoes are just tender (it is very important not to under- or overcook them). Drain them and let them sit for about 5 minutes to enable the excess water to evaporate (if you overcook them or don't drain them correctly they'll be too moist and your filling will be too wet).
• When the potatoes have cooled slightly add your butter and your chosen cheeses. Stir and mash with a fork to mix and break the potatoes up (I like to leave the mixture slightly chunky). Add the nutmeg and seasoning to taste. Stir in the watercress, half finely chopped and the rest coarsely chopped. Stuff the ravioli with a good heaped teaspoon of this mixture and cook in boiling salted water for about 3-4 minutes, until tender.
• Serve with some extra olive oil or butter, some more of your chosen cheese grated over the top and some torn watercress.

RAVIOLI OF SMASHED FAVA BEANS, MINT AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• If the fava beans are very small and soft, you can use them raw. If they are medium to large, blanch them until just tender in unsalted boiling water (remove the skins after blanching if they are slightly tough). Smash or finely chop half the beans and leave the other half whole.
• Put all the beans into a bowl with the chopped mint (added to taste), olive oil and ricotta. Lightly fork this through, adding the Parmesan, lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Stuff the ravioli with the filling and cook them in gently boiling salted water for around 3 to 4 minutes, until tender. Drain carefully.
• Serve drizzled with a little extra olive oil, and scattered with the extra fava beans, some chopped mint, olive oil and some freshly grated or shaved Parmesan.

RICOTTA, PECORINO AND PARMESAN RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Make the pasta by plonking the eggs and flour in a food processor, turning it on and within 30 seconds it should look like chewy-looking bread crumbs. These will start to come together into larger balls of dough. Take the dough out and work by hand for 2 minutes or until smooth, silky and elastic. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest in the refrigerator.
• Prepare the filling by mixing everything except the whole marjoram leaves together, checking the seasoning.
• Cut off pieces of the pasta and roll out on a lightly floured clean work surface to about 1mm thick, then cut into pieces about 14 by 14cm (6 by 6 inches). Place a good heaped teaspoon of filling on 1 side, then using a clean pastry brush and some water, lightly but evenly brush the pasta. Pinch 1 side of the pasta over the filling so it forms a parcel, then with your thumb or the base of your palm gently pat the pasta down all around the filling. (The most important thing about ravioli is it must be sealed completely, so if there are any rips, chuck them out.) Trim and cut the ravioli into shape with a knife or crinkly cutter.
• Cook the ravioli in salted, gently boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fry the marjoram leaves and sage leaves in the olive oil until crispy, then drain on kitchen paper.
• Put the cooked ravioli in a warmed small frying pan, add a little of the cooking water and another tablespoon of the grated pecorino, and toss. To serve, spoon the ravioli into a dish, sprinkle some of the crispy herbs on top, and add another grating of Parmesan and some freshly ground black pepper to finish.

AIOLI

Steps:

• Smash up the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle (if you don't have a mortar and pestle you can very finely chop the garlic). Place the egg yolk and mustard in a bowl and whisk. Then start to add your olive oil bit by bit. Once you've blended in a half cup of the olive oil you can start to add the rest in larger amounts. When you've added it all, you can add the garlic and lemon (to taste) and any extra flavors such as basil, fennel tops, dill, chopped roast nuts. To finish just season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice.

RAVIOLI (DOUGH AND CHOICE OF 4 FILLINGS)

Steps:

• MAKING THE FILLING: Ricotta Filling#1: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Ricotta Filling#2: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Beef and Spinach Filling: Brown beef and veal in butter with the whole clove of garlic.
• Remove garlic and let meat mixture cool.
• Mix spinach, parsley, eggs, cheese and nutmeg into cooled meat until well blended, set aside filling until needed.
• Sausage Filling: Brown sausage in frying pan, drain fat and allow sausage to cool.
• When sausage has cooled, mix in eggs and cheese, set aside filling until needed.
• MAKING THE RAVIOLI DOUGH: Sift flour and salt together.
• Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
• Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.
• Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
• Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).
• FILLING THE RAVIOLI: Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
• When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.
• Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
• Cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.
• DRYING THE RAVIOLI: Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
• COOKING THE RAVIOLI: Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.
• Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.
• Place drained ravioli on a serving platter in layers, alternating layers with your favorite sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese between each ravioli layer.
• Serve hot.