The welcoming dinner for Conor and the wife was a full Italian cena consisting of four courses as explained here. We wished more of our blogging buddies could have joined us, but we tried to include them in spirit by cooking and eating their recipes. I used ChgoJohn’s recipe for a filling for cappelletti as inspiration for the ravioli for the primo piatto. The Bartolini family recipe for this stuffing includes pork, veal, spinach, cream cheese, pecorino, nutmeg, and lemon zest. I used ricotta instead of cream cheese and slightly different proportions, but I think it was pretty close to how ChgoJohn would make it. They were quite different from other ravioli I’ve made and they were delicious. I’ll definitely make them again! I didn’t serve them in brodo like ChgoJohn did, but simply with butter and sage.

Ingredients

For 48 ravioli (8 small servings or 4 large servings)

100 grams (3.5 oz) ground pork shoulder

100 grams (3.5 oz) ground veal

100 grams (3.5 oz) fresh spinach

50 grams (4 Tbsp) (homemade) ricotta

50 grams (10 Tbsp) freshly grated pecorino

grated zest of 1/2 lemon (preferably organic)

freshly grated nutmeg

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 Tbsp butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta dough

2 eggs

200 grams (1 1/4 cup) 00 flour

For serving

butter

fresh sage

freshly grated pecorino or parmigiano reggiano

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and add the ground pork and veal. Brown the meat over medium high heat, breaking it up with wooden spatulas.

Continue to brown the meat until the moisture has evaporated and it starts to ‘sizzle’. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the same frying pan and add the spinach. Sauté the spinach for 10 minutes or until tender.

Let the spinach drain very well.

Add grated lemon zest to the meat.

Add freshly grated nutmeg to the meat.

Add freshly grated pecorino to the meat.

Add the ricotta and the beaten egg.

Chop the spinach very fine.

Add the spinach to the bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Stir the mixture until homogeneous. Taste and add more salt, pepper, nutmeg, lemon zest, or pecorino if needed.

Cover the filling with plastic wrap and let it firm up in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Make fresh pasta dough and roll it out as thinly as possible.

Make ravioli according to my instructions for making fresh pasta.

Arrange the ravioli on a surface sprinkled with flour.

The ravioli can be cooked straight away, or can be stored at room temperature for some hours, in the refrigerator for a few days, and for months in the freezer. Just remember to turn them over after 15-20 minutes so the the underside can dry as well, as otherwise they might stick.

Boil the ravioli for just a few minutes in salted water or stock.

To serve the ravioli “con burro e salvia”, melt some butter and sauté some chopped fresh sage leaves in it as a sauce. Transfer the ravioli to the pan with the butter with a slotted spoon. Gently toss the ravioli to coat them with butter and sage on all sides.

Serve on warm plates with some freshly grated pecorino or parmigiano.

Wine pairing

Since the Bartolinis are originally from the Marche, I thought it was appropriate to drink this wonderful Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Riserva with the ravioli. Villa Bucci 2004 is a special wine, that despite its age still has a lot of power. It was a great pairing with the ravioli. Many full-bodied dry Italian white wines will work with these ravioli.