Ravioli with fresh tomato, basil and garlic sauce
Ravioli is very satisfying to make. And it’s much easier to get on the table than most pastas, because you can freeze a few batches without worrying that the pasta will stick together, and cook it straight from frozen. You can change the filling, limited only by what’s in your garden/pantry/imagination, but in summer when sweet tomatoes and basil are abundant, this gentle, delicious pasta supper is perfection.
Ingredients
TOMATO SAUCE
- 500 g 1 lb 2 oz cherry tomatoes (a mix of varieties is lovely)
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 handfuls basil leaves picked and roughly torn, plus extra to serve
- ¼ cup 60 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
- Grated parmesan cheese to serve
PASTA
- 22/3 cups 400 g plain (all-purpose) or 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- FILLING
- 1 cup 230 g fresh ricotta cheese
- ½ cup 50 g grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Make the tomato sauce first and leave it to sit at room temperature for a couple of hours for the flavours to really get to know each other.
- Halve the tomatoes and place them in a large bowl with the garlic, red wine vinegar, basil and olive oil.
- Sprinkle in a good amount of sea salt and black pepper, stir well and set aside.
- For the pasta, combine the flour, salt and eggs in a food processor and blitz for 10 seconds or until the mixture just comes together.
- Turn out onto a work surface and gently knead for about 5 minutes or until you have a smooth, springy dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for an hour or so.
- For the filling, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Divide the pasta dough into quarters.
- Flatten one portion into a thick disc between your palms and wrap the remaining portions in plastic.
- Lightly dust a pasta machine with flour and set it to the first/widest setting.
- Feed the pasta disc through the machine, then fold it in half and repeat.
- Next, feed the pasta through the machine on the second setting, fold it in half, then return the machine to the first setting and repeat.
- The idea is to work the pasta through the first few settings by rolling it through, folding it in half and going back a setting each time.
- Once you get to about the fourth setting, just go for it, gently feeding the pasta through each setting until you have a lovely thin, silky and smooth rectangle of pasta.
- Gently fold the rectangle in half lengthways, then unfold it so you can see the halfway mark.
- Spoon the filling in little mounds along one half of the pasta, about 4 cm (1½ inches) apart.
- Run a finger dipped in water along the edge of the pasta, then fold the bottom half of pasta over the top.
- Gently press on either side of each mound to remove any air bubbles and then press along the moistened edge to help seal the pasta.
- Use a ravioli cutter to cut across the top of the pasta, pressing down firmly to seal and cut at the same time, then cut down the sides to make individual pieces.
- Place the ravioli on a tray lined with baking paper, cover with a tea towel and pop it in the freezer.
- Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
- Drop the fresh or frozen pasta into the pan and cook until al dente (5 minutes if frozen; 3 minutes if fresh).
- You’ll know the ravioli is cooked once it bubbles up to the top of the water.
- Drain the ravioli and tip it straight into the bowl of fresh tomato sauce.
- Gently toss to combine, then drizzle with a little extra olive oil (the best you have!
- ), sprinkle the parmesan and extra basil over the top and serve straight away.
Notes & Wine Advice
If you don’t have a pasta machine, use a rolling pin to roll out the pasta until it’s as thin as possible. This does take a little time, but you can get there with lots of elbow grease. Alternatively, buy some good-quality fresh ravioli and serve it with the fresh tomato sauce.