Farro Ravioli with Ricotta, Portobello Mushrooms and Pistachios

Cindy Swain | Fri, 08/04/2017 - 05:18
Difficulty Level
Medium
Cooking Time
1 hour + 30 minutes resting time
Cost
Low

Ravioli is a typical and well-known Italian pasta, but did you know that the name for this iconic dish changes throughout the boot-shaped peninsula?  In the region of Piedmont it's called agnolotti while it's referred to as tortelli in Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Tuscany. Many other regions and provinces call this delicacy by another name. The common factor in this dish is that the pasta dough is filled with meat, fish, vegetables or cheese depending on local ingredients.

Serves: 6

Ingredients
whole grain farro
2 1/2 cups farro or all purpose flour
salt
a pinch
eggs
3 Large (around 65g, 2.3 ounces each)
water
1-2 tablespoons water, if needed
extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon
shallot
1, peeled and finely chopped
garlic
1 clove, peeled and finely chopped
portobello mushrooms
3 large portobello mushroom caps, chopped
Parmigiano Reggiano
1 1/2 cups grated, divided
parsley
1 tablespoon chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
ricotta
10.5 ounces
breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons
lemon zest
Zest from 1 organic lemon (reserve 1/4 tsp for serving)
egg
1
salt
1 tablespoon coarse salt
butter
4 tablespoons
pistachio
1/2 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
poppy seeds
1 tablespoon
baby spinach
1/2 cup
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Instructions

 

For the dough:
Add the flour, salt and eggs to the bowl of the stand mixer equipped with the dough hook. Mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes until the dough is homogenous and comes together in a smooth ball. If the dough seems too dry and crumbly, add a tablespoon of water at a time. If the dough seems too sticky at more flour.  Cover the dough in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.

For the filling:
Add the extra virgin olive oil and onion to a medium sized skillet. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until soft and translucent, but not browned. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Now add the chopped mushrooms and carry on cooking for 8-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft and the liquid they have released has evaporated. If they start to stick to the pan, drizzle in another swirl of olive oil.

When the mushrooms are done remove from heat and transfer them to a food processor. Add 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, salt, black pepper and parsley. Blend until well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the ricotta, bread crumbs, lemon zest and egg. Stir well then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you roll out the dough.

Rolling out the dough:
Attach the pasta roller to the stand mixer. Remove the plastic wrap and divide the dough in four pieces press them into flat rectangles and flour each side. Pass one of the pieces through the machine on speed 1 on width no.0. Fold the ends towards each other and pass it through again. Now turn the width to no.1 and pass the dough through and changing the thickness each time to arrive at no.4. Keep the rest of the dough covered.

Put the pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface. Fold the sheet along its midline to make a light crease then re-open it. Add a tablespoon of filling along the middle of the lower half. Keep adding filling 1/2 inch apart. Lightly brush around the filling with water to moisten. Fold the sheet over and gently pat around each filling to remove excess air and to seal. Use a ravioli cutter or stamp to cut your ravioli in squares or circles.  Repeat with the remaining sheets and filling.

To cook and serve the ravioli:
Bring a large pot of water to a low boil a bowl then add the salt. Carefully pour in the ravioli and cook for 2-3 minutes or until tender. In the meantime, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add the spinach. Drain the ravioli reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add the ravioli to the skillet along with 1 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Stir to combine and add a little of the reserved pasta water and heat until everything sticks together well.

Divide the ravioli in serving bowls and top with poppy seeds, pistachios and lemon zest. Buon appetito!