Giro d'Italia '20 - Stage 13: Cervia to Monselice
Going into this challenge, I wanted to try and make as few pasta dishes as pastable...see what I did there? I have lots of “dad jokes”, friends - stick around. But, back to the point: yes, pasta is very Italian and there are about 350 different pasta shapes with countless many more names. But, as I hope you’re discovering through my culinary ride-along, Italian food is so much more than just pasta. But, a pasta dish is inevitable, and I really wanted to try my hand at making homemade pasta, too. I took a pasta-making class, thanks to an old girlfriend, about 3 years ago at Sur La Table, but had not actually ventured to make some at home up until this point. I had to really go through with it once my Kitchen Aid Pasta Roller Attachments showed up...damn you Amazon Prime with your punctual delivery options!
So now that I had the practical know-how, equipment, and inspiration from countless Joe Sasto Instagram Posts what would I make? I’ve had several fresh pasta dishes at nicer Italian restaurants over the course of my life, but one popped in memory bank: gargantuan ravioli. I couldn’t believe it when these things came out on my plate. I was in my early 20’s and just remember being mind-blown by this golden, toothsome pasta, cooked in properly salted water with a light and delicious, cloud-like filling trapped into a ravioli about the size of my entire hand. How was I supposed to do this?
Well, first, it was a lovely crisp fall night so the filling had to be of-the-season. I decided to go with the standard: roasted butternut squash. I added in some herbs, some ground walnuts and an apple. Finally, I topped it off with a brown butter and sage sauce. The dish was savory, flavorful, and the pasta didn’t explode in the water (which was really my biggest fear). While a bit of a pain to clean up afterward, the result is well worth the effort. Even that store-bought “fresh” pasta is literally a bag of limp-noodles. Scratch pasta just has this unmistakable flavor and bite which can’t be properly imitated.
Ravioli Gigante (Tortelli)
Pasta Dough
3 cups flour
3 eggs + 3 egg yolks
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil + 2 tbsp of cold water, combined
Filling
1 large butternut squash
¼ cup walnuts
Granny Smith or other tart apple
2 sprigs rosemary, minced
Nutmeg
Sauce + Finishing
Butter
Sage
Parmesan cheese
Pasta: Combine all of the wet dough ingredients together in a large measuring cup. Place the flour in the bowl of a large food processor and start to mix, then add the wet ingredients into the wide-open feeder tube area of the lid. Let the dough mix until it starts to gather on the blade, about 30 seconds. If the dough will not combine, add more cold water by the tablespoon, or flour, until it comes together. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Form a rough rectangle and wrap in plastic and place in the fridge.
Filling: Heat the oven to 400. Skin, seed and cut the squash and apple into rough 1-inch chunks. Coat with olive oil and place in the oven to roast for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the walnuts, lightly, in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Let the nuts cool completely, then process them in a mini food processor. Check the squash after 40 minutes. The squash should be soft, not necessarily blackened on the edges. After cooking, remove the pasta dough from the fridge and set it on the counter to allow it to come to room temperature.
Meanwhile, remove any hard roasted black roasted bits from the squash and place the remainder with the cooked apple in a bowl along with the rosemary and half of the walnuts. Mash and stir together to incorporate. The filling should be sturdy and not runny. Season with black pepper and a few fresh gratings of nutmeg. Stir and adjust seasoning as necessary, adding additional walnut powder if desired. Set aside to cool and finalize the pasta dough.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces and lightly flour both sides and flatten slightly with your hands. Keep the other pasta segments covered with a damp cloth while you process the pieces one-at-a-time. Then run the pasta through your pasta machine according to its instructions. I rolled my pieces down to a 5-setting. Lay out two sheets on a lightly floured surface and place multiple mounds of a tablespoon of filling on one pasta sheet, about 2.5 inches apart from each other. Dipping your fingers in water, make a circle around the filling mounds and gently place the other pasta sheet atop the filling, pressing the pasta down just before and after the filling, to help avoid air pockets. Once the top sheet is in place, firmly press the dough into place to ensure enclosure. Using a pasta cutter wheel, make large squares and set aside on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel. Repeat the process with the remaining pasta and filling.
When the ravioli are complete, add into the boiling water, 3 at-a-time. After the pasta boils for 90 seconds, flip, and cook for 60 seconds, flip again and cook another 30 seconds. Remove, using a slotted spoon and place on a piece of wax or parchment paper. Repeat cooking the remaining pasta. In a large non-stick skillet, melt half a stick of butter over medium-high heat. Add 2 or 3 ravioli, a few leaves of sage, and finish cooking the ravioli in the pan, spooning the butter over the tops of the ravioli.
______________________________
Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.