I am hoping that the pasta maker will not turn out like the bread maker – 1 month of fun then several years of being tucked away in the back of the cupboard. One week in and I feel like that won’t be happening. Back in Sunny Sydney I made my first homemade pasta with my friend Kate who had been to an Italian cooking course, she arrived at my house Tipo ’00 and pasta maker in hand. We made cracking spinach and ricotta cannelloni. It was sensational and relatively easy. Since then I have had a few pasta making flutters including gnocchi – which, may I add, is VERY easy to make and you do not need any special equipment. (see my recipe for Gnocchi with Gorgonzola and walnuts). Other than that the trusty De Cecco Linguine has been my pasta of choice. Until now! My lovely sister decided to by herself (or should I say me) a pasta maker. After a few minor hiccups we managed to produce a rather wonderful roast butternut pumpkin ravioli with a burnt butter and sage sauce. As this was my first venture back into pasta land I didn’t take any photos (doh!!) So decided to do a re run for “the blog” this week. I didn’t have any sage so whipped up a creamy sauce instead which turned out to be rather delicious. By the way you can make pasta with a rolling pin and a bit of elbow grease – worth giving it a bash if you are not sure whether to invest in a pasta maker. However they are not very expensive you can get one for about £20.
Ingredients
Pasta
500 grams plain flour (ideally Tipo 00)
6 medium sized eggs or 5 large eggs
Filling
200 grams ricotta
50 grams finely grated Parmesan
Approx 800 grams Butternut Pumpkin (squash) whole weight before peeling and de-seeding
Whole nutmeg
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
Sauce
1 clove garlic
1 large knob of butter
Salt and pepper
Splash of dry white wine
100 mls double cream
50 grams finely grated Parmesan
Method
To make the pasta dough.
Put flour in a large mixing bowl. Crack eggs into a separate bowl or jug and lightly whisk to combine.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the egg mix.
Mix together with a fork until egg has been mixed in.
Bring together with your hands into a dough.
Remove from bowl and knead until smooth. The dough will feel relatively dry – don’t worry it will soften up a little.
Wrap in cling film and rest in fridge for min 30 mins.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Peel butternut pumpkin and remove seeds. Cut into 1cm cubes and add to a baking dish. Toss through a little olive oil until coated and pop into the oven.
Bake until soft and a little golden – make sure you check regularly and give the pumpkin a toss around.
Leave to cool.
Mash with a fork until smooth (ish).
Add ricotta, grated Parmesan and some nutmeg (about 1/6), mix well to combine. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper to taste. If you want you can add more Parmesan.
Once the pasta has rested split the dough into 4 smaller balls. Keep one of the balls and re-wrap the rest and place back int he fridge.
Set the pasta maker to the widest setting.
Flatten the dough into an oval shape, dust in flour to prevent it sticking and feed it through the pasta maker.
N.B. My first try came out with holes through it, this was because there were air bubbles trapped in the dough. I mashed the dough back into a ball and then rolled it out again with a rolling pin – this helped remove the bubbles and kick start the rolling process.
Turn the pasta maker down a notch and roll again, you may need to lightly dust the pasta again with some flour.
Keep doing this until the pasta is about 1mm thick.
Lie the pasta onto a floured surface and cut into 4 cm strips.
Put a small amount (approx 2/3 teaspoon) at one end of the strip and lightly brush around it with water. Fold the other half of the strip over to create a parcel. Be careful not to trap air inside the ravioli as this will expand when cooked and may burst open.
Keep doing this and lay them out onto a floured tray, do not pile them on top of each other as they may stick – from experience!!
Once you have used your first batch of rolled out pasta you can continue with the rest of the pasta until you have made as many as you wish. This amount of dough and filling should feel 8 people for main course or 14 starters.
You can freeze the pasta, pop them in the freezer on the tray. Once frozen you can bung them in a tub or a bag. You can cook them straight from frozen.
Ok to cook and serve.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a teaspoon of salt.
Warm a non stick frying pan with the knob of butter and a splash of olive oil.
Add crushed garlic and saute for a couple of minutes until soft and sweet – no colour. Add glug of white wine (approx 3 table spoons). Simmer to reduce wine to almost totally evaporated. Add the cream. Simmer until thickened a little then remove from heat and add Parmesan. Stir through and season to taste (you probably won’t need salt).
Pop the pasta into the pot, I probably wouldn’t do not than 4 serves in the one pot.
Cook for about 4 minutes then remove one and see if it is cooked. You may need to cook the ravioli for a little longer it really depends on how thick the pasta is – everyone’s pasta is slightly different. Once cooked drain in a colander and toss through sauce, serve immediately in warmed bowls.
The creamy sauce is great but so is the burnt butter and sage. This is made by taking about 75 grams of butter and heating it on the stove until it is bubbling (this is for 4 people). Do not heat at too high a temp as it may actually burn, you are looking for a nut brown colour. Add sage leaves (about 8 small to medium leaves per person or 4 large). The sage leaves should be crisp once cooked. Pour over the top of the ravioli when it is plated up and top with some finely grated Parmesan.
I am planning on trialing some other filling so will keep you posted!
Foodfoodandmorefood 