In 2007 during our first wine discovery tour through Italy, we visited Castello di Brolio in Tuscany and had dinner at the restaurant that was part of the winery. They served a tasting menu to showcase their wines, and with the Chianti Classico they served ravioli stuffed with ricotta and pecorino, garnish with sauteed spinach and toasted pine nuts. This is a variation on the Italian classic of ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach, and it really showcases the cheese that is included with the ricotta in the ravioli stuffing. Instead of pecorino, you can also prepare them with any other cheese. With a matured cow’s milk cheese such as pecorino or parmigiano, it does indeed pair very nicely with a Chianti Classico. Personally I prefer this with sauteed ‘wild’ (coarse) spinach, which is sweeter and retains more texture than sauteed baby spinach. (But in this case I only had baby spinach.)

I like the filling to be fluid. Include an egg for a firmer stuffing.

Ingredients

For 4 small or 2 large servings

150 grams fresh ricotta

100 grams parmigiano reggiano, or other cheese of your choice

1 egg (optional)

pasta dough, made with 2 egss and 200 grams of flour

125 grams (2 handfulls) spinach

extra virgin olive oil

20 grams (2 Tbsp) toasted pine nuts

Preparation

Grate the cheese.

Combine the cheese and the ricotta in a bowl…

…and stir until homogeneous. Taste and season with salt if needed. Add a beaten egg to the filling if you like. It will make the filling more fluid when uncooked, but firmer when cooked.

Roll out the pasta dough…

…to the thinnest setting.

Put teaspoon-sized heaps of the stuffing on the sheet of pasta with about 2 cm (.8″) in between, not in the center but on one side of the center.

Fold over the sheet of pasta and close the ravioli with your fingers, making sure not to trap any air inside.

Use a pastry cutter to cut into individual ravioli.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the spinach.

Sauté the spinach over high heat until just wilted.

Arrange the spinach on the preheated plates.

Add salt and the ravioli to the pot of boiling water.

Cook the ravioli for a couple of minutes, then take them out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the plates with the spinach.

Garnish with toasted pine nuts and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.

Wine pairing

As already mentioned, Chianti Classico is a good pairing for this if the cheese is parmigiano reggiano or aged pecorino. For other cheese, another wine may be called for.

Flashback

Cold fermenting pizza dough has three advantages: there is no need to knead it, the dough will be easier to handle, and more flavorful. It only requires a little planning, as you have to start 3-5 days before you want to eat the pizza.