Piano Piano's Egg Yolk Ravioli

Recipe by our in-house chef, @MaddyGoldberg

Prep Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Cook Time: 2-3 minutes

Ingredients

For pasta dough:
500 g all-purpose flour
285 g whole eggs, beaten

For ravioli:
6-10 yolks
Pasta dough
Ricotta mix
¼ cup salted butter
Freshly cracked pepper

For ricotta mix:
2 cups spinach
1 cup ricotta
½ tsp lemon zest
1 tsp fine kosher or sea salt

Method

Make pasta dough: Add pasta dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Set to #3 and knead for 10 minutes. Remove dough from bowl and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Rest for one hour.

Make ricotta mix: Fill a medium sized pot with water and place over high heat to boil. Once boiling, add spinach. Cook for 1 minute then strain. Place spinach into a towel or paper towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Add strained spinach, ricotta, lemon zest, and salt to a blender. Blend over low speed until completely combined. Taste and season with more salt if needed. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside in fridge.  

Roll out pasta: Once the dough has rested for one hour, set up a pasta roller. Cut dough in half. Working with the first half, roll pasta dough until it is very thin (#7 on most pasta rollers). Using a pizza wheel or knife, cut the dough into 4-inch by 4-inch squares. Set aside under a towel. Working with the second half of dough, roll pasta until it is as thin as the last dough, and cut into 5-inch by 5-inch squares. They should be larger than the first half of squares! Set aside. 

Form ravioli: Place the 4-inch by 4-inch squares on a large surface. Using the piping bag with ricotta mix, pipe a small circle in the centre of the square, the circle should be slightly larger than the size of an egg yolk. Repeat with remaining squares. Place one egg yolk in the centre of each piped circle. Cover the square with a 5-inch pasta square and press around the yolk to seal the ravioli. Repeat with remaining squares. Optional: cut the edges with a pasta roller to make them look cleaner. Transfer to a parchment lined tray until ready to boil.

 Cook and serve:  Place a large pot of water over high heat until boiling. Add in 2 tbsp of salt. Transfer raviolis into the boiling water and reduce to a simmer. Simmer ravioli for 2-3 minutes, or until pasta edges are cooked (taste one if you are not sure!). Remove raviolis using a slotted spoon, do not strain. Transfer to a plate and top with melted butter and freshly cracked pepper. Optional: serve with toasted bread.