2. Primi (pasta, risotto)

Fish Ravioli with Seafood (Ravioli di Pesce ai Frutti di Mare)

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In Italy, ravioli with a seafood stuffing are usually made with potato rather than ricotta and/or egg to bind the stuffing. In this case I selected seabream (orata) to stuff the homemade fresh ravioli, and I served them with a seafood sauce. You could also use another white fish such as sole or sea bass. Clams and mussels are great because they are not only delicious, but also come with their own built-in sauce. This dish is packed with flavor and absolutely worth the effort. The delicate ravioli pair wonderfully well with the tasty seafood sauce. I prepared this for my Italian friends, and they loved it. As did we. I’ll definitely make this again.

Ingredients

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For 4 servings

fillets of 1 seabream, about 160 grams (.35 lb), cut into strips

8 large prawns, shelled and deveined

20 mussels

20 small clams (vongole)

1 potato, peeled (half the weight of the fish, or about 80 grams), cooked

about 150 grams (.33 lb) vine-ripened cherry tomatoes

2 Tbsp minced fresh flat leaf parsley

2 cloves garlic

2 eggs

200 grams (1 1/4 cup) Italian 00 flour

salt and freshly ground pepper

4 Tbsp olive oil

60 ml (1/4 cup) dry white wine

Preparation

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Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add a garlic clove (whole, peeled) and a tablespoon of minced parsley. Stir over medium heat for a minute.

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Add the fish and stir until the fish has just turned white.

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Add the white wine.

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Cook until most of the wine has evaporated.

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Discard the garlic. Combine the remaining contents of the pan and the potato in the bowl of a food processor. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

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Process briefly until just mixed. Do not over mix, as the potato would turn to glue if you did.

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Transfer the stuffing to a bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to firm up.

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Make fresh pasta dough from the 00 flour and the eggs and allow it to rest for an hour, covered in plastic wrap, in the fridge. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible, and make ravioli with the stuffing. Do all of this according to my instructions for fresh pasta.

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For the sauce, cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

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Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the remaining clove garlic (peeled, whole) and the tomatoes. Stir for a minute.

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Add the mussels and the clams.

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Cook over medium heat until they open up. They will release a very flavorful liquid that is quite salty, so no additional salt is needed.

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Turn the heat to very low and add the shrimp.

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The sauce is ready once the shrimp is just cooked.

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When the water boils, add salt and the ravioli. They only take a couple of minutes to cook.

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Transfer the cooked ravioli to the seafood sauce with a slotted spoon.

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Gently stir the ravioli into the sauce, making sure not to break them. Discard the garlic.

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Serve the ravioli with the sauce on warm plates, sprinkled with parsley.

Flashback


Two years ago I prepared a sous-vide version of a classic from Venice: fish ‘in saor‘, in this case mackerel marinated with onions, raisins, and pine nuts. You can make this with any type of seafood, also without sous-vide, and it is delicious.

21 thoughts on “Fish Ravioli with Seafood (Ravioli di Pesce ai Frutti di Mare)”

  11. Another great dish, Stefan. Such a wonderful mix of seafood and flavors. You’ve struck gold. You’re so right, too, about clams and mussels having their own sauce. And what a flavorful sauce it is!

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  12. Hi Stefan,
    Did you ever try mussels sous-vide?
    In the shell, in the vacuum bag, where they need to have room to open?
    How about temperatures and timing?
    Since it’s the season, I like to try it tonight…

    Best regards,
    Frans

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      1. Hi Stefan,

        Well, it didn’t work out very well…
        I’m happy that I only tried it on 12 mussels as a test and did the other ones sort of traditionally 🙂
        I vacuum sealed them, together with some vegetables, sea salt and a lemon slice. As my sous-vide machine only heats until 90*C, I decided to cook them for 10 minutes. What I didn’t realized (but could have expected) that the mussels are in fact little air tanks, but closed. So the tight bag filled up with a lot of extra air as soon as the mussels opened. By this it went floating to the surface, so the cooking process wasn’t optimal. (I didn’t watch on time because chats and wine at the table were more interesting :))
        After opening they were still rather nice and not overcooked, but not worth the extra work for a next time…

        Best regards,
        Frans

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        1. Hi Frans, I didn’t think it was really worth the effort either. I did think it was a good way for purely catching the juice without any loss that would otherwise occur because of evaporation.
          Brave of you to try something new with company!
          Thanks for letting me know how it worked out.
          Best regards,
          Stefan

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