I decided I’d celebrate National Ravioli Day by sharing my special recipe for Walnut Gorgonzola Ravioli with you. This is probably my husband’s favorite dish that I make, although I do it mainly for special occasions. It’s rich, creamy and with the perfect counter-balancing notes between the walnuts and the gorgonzola cheese. It’s a dish that you could definitely find in a restaurant in Northern Italy, but it’s really not at all pretentious.
For those who are Lacto-ovo-vegetarians, this entree is perfect. It’s not gluten-free, but can be made so by substituting the flour.
People often believe that making your own pasta from dough is too labor-intensive, but it’s really not, and the flavor is much richer and warmer when you do. That’s why this dish and others with homemade pasta are much better and will seem more like “restaurant quality”. Also, once you’ve done it once or twice, it becomes easier and quicker. The main trick is that the dough must be the right consistency.
Not too dry — if it is breaking when you fold it over, then it needs to have a little water added, a few drops at a time and worked-in. If it’s really sticky or wet, then it needs to have more flour added and worked-in. You must get accustomed to the right consistency, since there can be no perfect recipe for it — different places have different humidity, and different altitudes, and different eggs have more or less volume — all of which affect the dough consistency. You want to aim for “just right”. If you put it inthe dough machine and it sort of crumbles, it’s not right, and it needs a little water. And if you put it in and it squeezes too easily or tears too easily, it’s not right and needs more flour.
But, by and large, this recipe should get you very close to an almost perfect consistency.
The “00” flour is very tasty and works best for this delicate pasta. But, you can substitute in just all-purpose flour, or you can use durum pasta flour mixed half-and-half with regular flour.
Please be sure to read through the steps of the recipe before beginning.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons “00” flour (I use Caputo brand)
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 4 tablespoons of Gorgonzola cheese, minced or crumbled finely
- 1 3/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano cheese (fresh is best!)
- 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 2 cups heavy cream, room temperature
- 4 whole sage leaves fried in olive oil until just crispy
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
For the Pasta Dough:
To make the pasta dough, make a mound of 1 1/4 cups of flour on a large, clean surface, and create a little bowl in the middle, sort of like a volcano crater. Put the eggs, egg yolk, olive oil, and a pinch of salt into the bowl in the top of the flour mound. Using a fork, lightly beat the eggs and oil until combined, and then begin slowly incorporating the flour, beginning with the inner edges of the crater and working your way outwards until a messy dough forms.
Then, using your hands, knead the dough, folding it over and over until it is completely smooth, about 10 minutes, and form it into a nice, flat-ish ball of dough. Cover the dough ball in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Allowing the dough to rest gives it time for the gluten to release a little from the flour, and it melds together properly, making it easier to make the sheets of pasta you’ll be using to form the ravioli.
While the dough rests, you can create the ravioli filling in the next step.
For the filling:
In a mixing bowl, use a spoon to combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of the chopped walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, and grated Parmigiano until combined. Depending on the texture you like, you can either just leave the walnuts finely chopped, or you can reduce them to powder in a food processor. Add the freshly ground nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Mix again and set aside. (Options: You can add some chopped pine nuts for a more piquant flavor, or you can add some chopped mushrooms for a slightly meatier flavor.) Set the filling aside.
Prepare the ravioli pasta:
Once the dough has rested, divide it into quarters, and roll the first piece through a pasta machine, beginning with its widest setting — it may need you to flatten the dough some in your hands in order to begin rolling it through. (If you do not have a pasta machine available, it is possible to roll out the dough with a rolling pin. But, it is more challenging to achieve a properly thin sheet of the dough, evenly flat.) After runing the dough through the machine, you’ll progressively reduce the width setting by a notch, rolling the dough through with each thinner setting, until the dough is less than 1/8 inch thick — close to 1/16 inch thick — about a 6 setting on most pasta machines. Place the thin sheet of pasta on a surface dusted with more flour, and repeat this process for the other three pieces of dough.
On a sheet of the dough, begin placing rounded balls of the filling 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart — the balls of filling should be about two tablespoons worth — I just use a tablespoon and mound the filling onto it, and turn it over onto the pasta. Brush the pasta around each filling ball with a little water — you just want to dampen it so that it’ll stick — don’t drown it. Lay another sheet of the pasta over the top and mash firmly around each ball, trying to eliminate any air pockets in the ravioli (too much air can make it explode when you drop it into boiling water). Using a pastry wheel, cut out each ravioli (about 2 inches in diameter) and transfer to a baking sheet that’s dusted with flour. Repeat this process with the other two sheets of pasta. When your ravioli are ready, begin prepping the sauce in the next step!
For the sauce:
Put the butter in in a large skillet, and melt over medium heat until it just begins to bubble. Add the 3 tablespoons of flour, all at once, and mix it into the butter rapidly. Wait until the flour has bubbled a little, and then begin to slowly add the cream, pausing to stir rapidly to avoid making lumps, until it is all incorporated. Add plenty of salt and pepper to flavor, and set on a very low setting to keep it warm.
Finishing the pasta and composing the dish:
Before the sauce is made, you can set a good-sized pot of water on the stove to heat up until boiling. Add a good handful of salt to the water — this helps to flavor the pasta a bit more before serving. I often see people adding only miniscule amounts of salt to the water, such that it’s not even enough to taste! Keep in mind that the pot of water will dilute it down, and most of the water drains off before serving, so in order to flavor the pasta, use about 3 tablespoons worth of salt. I usually have a box of kosher salt on hand for this purpose — even the coarse rock salt has enough time to dissolve while heating up the water.
Once the water is boiling and you are close to finishing the sauce, add the pasta to the water. Cook it until the pasta floats to the top of the water, which requires around a couple of minutes. Using a slotted spoon, gently collect the boiled pasta, shake the water off of it, then transfer the ravioli into the sauce pan. Gently fold the sauce over the ravioli.
Transfer the ravioli in the sauce to a serving dish, and place the crispy sage leaves over the top for garnish. It is alternatively good to sprinkle some chopped Italian parsley, if you do not want to prep sage leaves, but the Walnut Gorgonzola Ravioli has a flavor profile that tastes more in line with Autumn entertaining, and the sage enhances that aspect.
Enjoy my Walnut Gorgonzola Ravioli, and let me know in the comments how it turns out for you!
