Jamies Cracker Ravioli Food

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.

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.

ROSEMARY AND PEPPER CRACKERS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour, Parmesan, rosemary, pepper, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until incorporated. Add the 1/4 cup heavy cream and process until the dough forms a ball. If a ball does not form, add more heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time, and process until the dough comes together.
• Lightly flour a work surface. Pat the dough out in into a flat rectangle, then lightly flour the dough and roll it out until it is a little less than 1/4-inch thick and about 12-by-8-inches in size. Cut the dough into squares or rectangles and carefully transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt, gently pressing the salt into the surface of the crackers.
• Bake until light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.