Prep time
2 hours
Cook time
20 minutes
Course
Main
Skill level
Intermediate
Season
All Seasons
Serves
4 to 6
Fresh pasta is one of those culinary experiences where you have to be ready for an excursion if you plan to make it at home. I personally love the process. It's relaxing and almost monotonous. The rule goes that if you're making pasta dough, you might as well make enough to use a couple more times.
I prefer to use half of the dough in the recipe below to make 4 to 6 servings of this ravioli and then freeze sheets of pasta for later use. The sauce is designed for two people, but you can multiply it easily for more dinner guests.
The filling greens are a simple and versatile mashup of what you can gather in the woods in the spring, and I prefer to blanch and freeze them in portions for recipes like this one. Any wild mushroom will do fine as the star in the mushroom cream sauce.
Ingredients
Pasta Dough (Halve if you don’t want extra for later.)
- 1 lb. durum flour
- 1 lb. all-purpose flour
- 10 oz. egg
- 4 oz. room temp water
- 4 oz. extra virgin olive oil
Filling
- 15 oz. container whole milk ricotta
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced
- 4 oz. nettle, dandelion, and/or ramps
- 3 oz. parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. fresh garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1 tsp. cracked black pepper
- Zest from one lemon
Sauce (Makes 2 Servings)
- ½-1 cup reconstituted dried morels
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¼ mushroom liquid
- ¼ cup English peas
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp. sherry vinegar
- 1 tbsp. garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
- Squeeze of lemon
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Also works with
Special equipment
Preparation
- Make the pasta dough: If making the dough by hand, mix the flours and pour onto a counter. Make a well in the center of the combined flour, add eggs, water, and olive oil, and slowly mix with your hands or dough scraper until the dough forms. Knead by hand for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough ball is smooth. Wrap and refrigerate for an hour to set. If making the dough in a standing mixer, add both flours, whip the water and olive oil into the eggs, and slowly add it to the flour with the mixer on medium speed. Let it mix until the dough ball begins to form. Move to the counter to knead by hand for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough ball is smooth. Wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
- Make the filling: Blanch the greens in boiling, salted water for 30 seconds. Remove them to an ice bath and cool to room temperature. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until the edges begin to brown. Remove from the heat. Purée the blanched greens, onion, and garlic until smooth—you may need a tablespoon or two of water to help it along. Whip the final purée with ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Place in the refrigerator.
- Make the ravioli: If rolling by hand, roll half of the dough out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin to the desired thickness; you'll want it relatively thin. Fold it over itself once or twice and reroll to smooth the dough out even more. The final product should be close to 1/16 of an inch. If you're using a pasta roller, do the same. Cut by hand and/or using the pasta roller, create sheets of even length and width.
- Using a measuring spoon or pastry bag, squeeze about one tablespoon of filling an inch apart in two rows per sheet. Eggwash the dough with a small paintbrush between the fillings and the edges. Gently lay a top sheet over the filling and work towards you, pressing around each filling and removing air. With a knife or pasta cutter, trim and cut out the ravioli, which should create the seal you need so that the filling doesn't leak while you cook them. Cover the ravioli on a floured sheet until you are ready to cook them. Don't let the dough dry out.
- Cook the pasta and sauce: Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop the ravioli into the water and boil until the edges are soft and the center puffs. Add to sauce when ready.
- While waiting for the pasta to cook, begin the sauce. Start with butter, garlic, mushrooms, and fresh thyme in a sauté pan over high heat. Sauté until the garlic starts to turn golden on the edges. Deglaze the pan with sherry vinegar and white wine. Reduce it by half and add the mushroom liquid from the dry morels. Reduce it by half. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce it to a simmer, and add the peas. Add the ravioli and lemon juice and simmer for 30 seconds. Serve with extra parmesan, fresh herbs, and extra virgin olive oil.
Foraged Greens Ravioli with Morel Cream Sauce
Prep time
2 hours
Cook time
20 minutes
Course
Main
Skill level
Intermediate
Season
All Seasons
Serves
4 to 6
Fresh pasta is one of those culinary experiences where you have to be ready for an excursion if you plan to make it at home. I personally love the process. It's relaxing and almost monotonous. The rule goes that if you're making pasta dough, you might as well make enough to use a couple more times.
I prefer to use half of the dough in the recipe below to make 4 to 6 servings of this ravioli and then freeze sheets of pasta for later use. The sauce is designed for two people, but you can multiply it easily for more dinner guests.
The filling greens are a simple and versatile mashup of what you can gather in the woods in the spring, and I prefer to blanch and freeze them in portions for recipes like this one. Any wild mushroom will do fine as the star in the mushroom cream sauce.
Ingredients
Pasta Dough (Halve if you don’t want extra for later.)
- 1 lb. durum flour
- 1 lb. all-purpose flour
- 10 oz. egg
- 4 oz. room temp water
- 4 oz. extra virgin olive oil
Filling
- 15 oz. container whole milk ricotta
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced
- 4 oz. nettle, dandelion, and/or ramps
- 3 oz. parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. fresh garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1 tsp. cracked black pepper
- Zest from one lemon
Sauce (Makes 2 Servings)
- ½-1 cup reconstituted dried morels
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¼ mushroom liquid
- ¼ cup English peas
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp. sherry vinegar
- 1 tbsp. garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
- Squeeze of lemon
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Also works with
Special equipment
Preparation
- Make the pasta dough: If making the dough by hand, mix the flours and pour onto a counter. Make a well in the center of the combined flour, add eggs, water, and olive oil, and slowly mix with your hands or dough scraper until the dough forms. Knead by hand for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough ball is smooth. Wrap and refrigerate for an hour to set. If making the dough in a standing mixer, add both flours, whip the water and olive oil into the eggs, and slowly add it to the flour with the mixer on medium speed. Let it mix until the dough ball begins to form. Move to the counter to knead by hand for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough ball is smooth. Wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
- Make the filling: Blanch the greens in boiling, salted water for 30 seconds. Remove them to an ice bath and cool to room temperature. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until the edges begin to brown. Remove from the heat. Purée the blanched greens, onion, and garlic until smooth—you may need a tablespoon or two of water to help it along. Whip the final purée with ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Place in the refrigerator.
- Make the ravioli: If rolling by hand, roll half of the dough out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin to the desired thickness; you'll want it relatively thin. Fold it over itself once or twice and reroll to smooth the dough out even more. The final product should be close to 1/16 of an inch. If you're using a pasta roller, do the same. Cut by hand and/or using the pasta roller, create sheets of even length and width.
- Using a measuring spoon or pastry bag, squeeze about one tablespoon of filling an inch apart in two rows per sheet. Eggwash the dough with a small paintbrush between the fillings and the edges. Gently lay a top sheet over the filling and work towards you, pressing around each filling and removing air. With a knife or pasta cutter, trim and cut out the ravioli, which should create the seal you need so that the filling doesn't leak while you cook them. Cover the ravioli on a floured sheet until you are ready to cook them. Don't let the dough dry out.
- Cook the pasta and sauce: Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop the ravioli into the water and boil until the edges are soft and the center puffs. Add to sauce when ready.
- While waiting for the pasta to cook, begin the sauce. Start with butter, garlic, mushrooms, and fresh thyme in a sauté pan over high heat. Sauté until the garlic starts to turn golden on the edges. Deglaze the pan with sherry vinegar and white wine. Reduce it by half and add the mushroom liquid from the dry morels. Reduce it by half. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce it to a simmer, and add the peas. Add the ravioli and lemon juice and simmer for 30 seconds. Serve with extra parmesan, fresh herbs, and extra virgin olive oil.