April 6, 2013 Spinach Ravioli with Herb Butter Sauce

I love using Epicurious as a recipe resource. So many years of the best of Bon Appetit and Gourmet are right at your fingertips. There are times however when I want to go beyond Epicurious to the annals of the food magazines I have collected over the past thirty years. Almost every year around Easter I return to a recipe for a white wine ravioli with an herb butter sauce. The recipe was in Bon Appetit’s monthly feature, “Cooking Class”. This well-worn issue from April 1989 featured Lynne Rossetto Kasper as that month’s teacher. She is the author of the James Beard award-winning cookbook,The Splendid Table and host of the weekly radio program of the same name.

Looking at that issue of Bon Appetit is like a time capsule into the world of food and cooking almost 25 years ago. The Marlboro man still graced the pages beckoning us to “come to where the flavor is.” Uh, no thanks. No www. yet, snail mail address and telephone numbers were the way to find additional information on featured products. A frilled toothpick stuck in the page attests to the many times I turned to recipes from the “Trade Winds Cocktail Party”. I catered quite a few “island style” wedding receptions and parties of our own for many years. Late cookbook author Abby Mandel was teaching us “Shortcuts with Style”, making good use of the food processor and microwave. In an article titled “Great Chefs’ Chocolate Desserts” late chef and cookbook writer, Richard Sax, extols one up and comer, Thomas Keller. As Sax said, “For my money, Keller is one of the best, most tirelessly inventive chefs now cooking in New York.” I would say Sax knew what he was talking about and the rest of the cooking world would soon agree.

Back to the article, ravioli is described as an “easy dish to make at home” and includes step by step photographs of the pasta making process. She offers two fillings for the ravioli, spinach, pine nut and currant filling and double mushroom, using both fresh and dried varieties. We have made both, but this year chose just to do the spinach filling. It reminds me of the filling I made to fill countless phyllo triangles as a caterer. An “easy dish”? I can’t say that I agree with that, but it can be fun, especially if you have someone to share the duties with.  Pasta making takes a definite time commitment, some patience and a nice long countertop to roll out the pasta. Along with parachute pants and mullets, food processor recipes were especially popular in the eighties. The pasta dough could also be made in a stand mixer or by hand. We used a ravioli press to speed along the process but it is not a necessity. Don’t own a pasta machine? Roll out the dough by hand (helps develop strong arm muscles) and use a biscuit cutter.  Don’t have the time or desire to make fresh pasta? Won ton, or better yet spring roll wrappers are a reasonable substitute and will give you more time to experiment making different types of filling. 

 Ravioli with Herb Butter Sauce

from Bon Appetit April 1989

Makes 6-8 first course servings

Spinach, Pine Nut and Currant Filling

Ingredients

• 1 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 2T olive oil
• 1 large onion, minced
• 3T toasted pine nuts
• 2T dried currants
• 1 1/2T chopped fresh basil
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/3t dried oregano
• 1c reduced fat ricotta cheese
• 1/3c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 egg

Directions

1. Squeeze spinach dry; chop finely. Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium high heat.  Add onion and cook until golden brown, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes.  Add spinach, pine nuts, currants, basil, garlic and oregano. Stir until thoroughly combined. Cool mixture before proceeding.
2. Combine ricotta and Parmesan in a medium bowl. Add spinach mixture. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix in egg. Spinach filling can be prepared two days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

White Wine Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 chilled large eggs
• 1/4c (or more) dry white wine
• Pinch of salt
• 2 c or more unbleached all purpose flour            

Directions

1. Combine eggs, 1/4c wine and salt in processor. With machine running, add 2 cups flour through feed tube.
2. Process until slightly sticky dough ball forms. If dough is very sticky, add more flour through the feed tube 1 tablespoon at a time, incorporating each addition before adding next. If dough is dry, add more wine through the feed tube 1 teaspoon at a time, incorporating each addition before adding the next. Process dough for 20 seconds more.
3. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth, elastic and no longer sticky, about 8 minutes. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Rolling dough and forming ravioli

• All purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten to blend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions

1. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut dough into 4 pieces. Flatten 1 piece (keep the remainder wrapped) and dust with flour. Turn pasta machine to widest setting  and run dough through twice. Sprinkle with flour, fold in half and run dough through machine twice.
2. Adjust machine to the next narrowest setting. Run dough through machine 5 times, folding in half and flouring before each run. Repeat, narrowing rollers and running dough through machine 5 times at each setting until the dough is thin, narrowest setting on machine with 6 settings, second to narrowest on the machine with 8 settings.
3. Arrange dough sheet on floured work surface. Cut in half crosswise. Cover one piece with plastic. Brush remaining piece with egg. Top with 2 rows of 1/2 tablespoon mounds of filling, spacing 1 inch from the edges and 1 inch apart.
4. Top with second dough sheet. Press with side of hand between mounds of filling down center, then crosswise, forcing out any trapped air.
5. Cut between mounds to form large squares, using a knife or a pasta cutting wheel.
6. Transfer ravioli to prepared baking sheets. Press edges of ravioli together to seal.
7. Repeat the rolling, filling and cutting with remaining dough pieces and filling. Can be prepared ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 day or freeze until solid. Transfer to freezer containers and freeze up to one month. Cook ravioli directly from the refrigerator or freezer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

     Cooking ravioli

1. Preheat oven to lowest setting. Bring two large pots of salted water to a boil. Divide ravioii between pots and boil until just tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to platter using a slotted spoon. Toss with a little olive oil. Cover lightly with foil and keep warm in oven while preparing sauce.

 

Herb Butter Sauce

Ingredients

• 6T butter (3/4 of a stick)
• 3T chicken stock or low salt canned broth
• 1/4c thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• Freshly ground pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Whole fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Melt butter in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Add stock and sliced basil and simmer one minute. Season with pepper. Drizzle over ravioli.
2. Serve immediately, sprinkling each serving with Parmesan and garnishing with whole basil leaves.