Born and raised in Venice, Italy, Manuela now lives with…
An easy-to-follow guide on making homemade ravioli filled with fresh ricotta cheese and organic baby spinach.
Last week I posted my recipe on how to make basic homemade pasta. Today I’m using that recipe to prepare handmade ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese.
As I said for the tagliatelle, making stuffed pasta is actually easier than you might think. All you need is a rolling pin, or pasta maker, a ravioli cutter, about two hours of your time, and some passion… or as we say in Italian, some “voglia di fare” (willingness to do it!).
Even if making ravioli can be a bit time consuming, it’s really rewarding. Freshly made ravioli, filled with organic baby spinach and delicate ricotta cheese are simply amazing.
So when you have some free time, and feel like experimenting with something new, here is a great activity for you.
With this recipe you can make around 45 ravioli, 2.5 inches in diameter, serving at least 4 people. For the sauce, I suggest drizzling the ravioli with sage infused, melted butter and sprinkled with lots of fresh grated Parmesan cheese. This way the sauce will not take away any of the ravioli delicate flavor. Buon appetito!
PrintSpinach and Ricotta Filled Ravioli
- Author: Manuela Mazzocco
- Yield: 0 about 45 ravioli or 4 servings 1x
Description
An easy-to-follow guide on making homemade ravioli filled with fresh ricotta cheese and organic baby spinach.
Ingredients
for the pasta:
- See link above for recipe
for the stuffing:
- 10 oz 280 gr of fresh organic baby spinach
- 8 oz 225 gr ricotta cheese (I used whole milk)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup 25 gr of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg grated
- salt
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta dough following the recipe linked above.
- cook the spinach in boiling water until tender. It should take only a few minutes.
- Drain the spinach and try to squeeze as much water out as you can.
- Chop the spinach and add to a large bowl, with the ricotta cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and a bit of salt. Mix well.
- Divide the pasta dough in two parts. Keep the half that you are not using in the plastic wrap.
- Roll the dough in a thin layer, about 1/8 of an inch, or as thin as you can. When you roll, always make sure the pasta doesn’t stick to the counter. Move and rotate the dough as necessary.
- Cut the dough halfway. Using your cutter and starting from one end, measure and mark (do not cut) the distance between the ravioli, on half of the dough only. You should be able to get 20-22 ravioli. Place about one teaspoon of filling on the pasta in the middle of each of the ravioli At this point you should used only half of the ricotta/spinach filling.
- Place the other half of pasta, and press down around the filling with your fingers. You want to get most of the air out so that your ravioli will seal nicely.
- Cut the ravioli using your cutter. Set aside on parchment paper lightly floured. Make sure the ravioli don’t touch each other or they will stick together.
To cook:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the ravioli for a couple of minutes after they start to float. This time is based on how thin/thick you made the pasta.Taste before removing the ravioli from the water. Serve immediately with your favorite sauce.
- Category: Pasta, Primi
- Cuisine: Italian
Born and raised in Venice, Italy, Manuela now lives with her husband and two children in Los Angeles, California. In her blog, Cooking with Manuela, she strives to share her passion for Italian food. As a mom of two young boys, most of her dinner preparations are done while checking homework, quizzing for science tests, and looking for Lego pieces. Her step-by-step recipes help readers create delicious food while on a busy schedule. There is nothing as special as ending your day with your family or friends sharing a good conversation and a tasty homemade meal.
Outstanding filling.
★★★★★
Thank you. Very clear instructions. Will be having a go today.
★★★★
Hey I absolutely loved your recipient and so did the fam.