Homemade Spinach Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

Step 1

Pasta

Step 2

Start by sifting the flour onto the surface. 

Step 3

Create a well on top of the flour and crack an egg into it. 

Step 4

Also, lightly whisk two egg yolks in a small bowl and have them ready. 

Step 5

Add the salt into the well and start mixing carefully with a fork, trying to keep the egg from running out of the well. 

Step 6

Once the first egg is mostly incorporated into the flour, add the olive oil and the two egg yolks. 

Step 7

At this point, I like to use a food scraper to help work the flour toward the center to mix the dough until the egg yolks are mostly absorbed. 

Step 8

Next, sprinkle some flour into your hands and knead for about 3 minutes.

Step 9

Wrap in cling wrap and let rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Step 10

Next, cut the dough into quarters. 

Step 11

Flatten each piece of dough slightly by pressing down with the palm of your hand and form it into a rectangular shape that will fit the width of the machine. 

Step 12

Set the rollers to the widest setting and roll the dough through. Keep rolling the dough through the pasta maker, passing it through each setting twice. Keep decreasing the setting until reaching your desired thickness. In the case of ravioli, you want to make sure to get to the smallest, thinnest setting, as the dough will be doubled when you fold it over. 

Step 13

Spinach Ricotta (and Parmesan cheese) Filling

Step 14

Use a pan that’s large enough to fit the fresh spinach.

Step 15

Heat olive oil over medium heat and add the spinach.

Step 16

Within a couple minutes – while stirring occasionally – your fresh spinach will shrink from a couple handfuls to less than a cup. 

Step 17

When the spinach is cooked down, place in a colander and squeeze out as much water as you can. In addition to that, I place the spinach onto some paper towels to remove some more moisture.

Step 18

Finely chop the spinach. 

Step 19

Place the spinach in a bowl, together with the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper, and mix it all together.

Step 20

Taste and add more salt and/or pepper if necessary. The way your filling tastes right now is pretty much how your ravioli (without sauce) will taste. 

Step 21

How to Make Homemade Ravioli

Step 22

Place about 2 teaspoon of filling on the bottom half of the dough sheet. Leave about 1-½” of space between each scoop of filling. 

Step 23

Lightly spritz the long edge of the dough with water. This will help the dough to stick to itself when you fold it. 

Step 24

Fold the dough in half. 

Step 25

Gently press down around each scoop of filling, trying to remove as much air as possible. This will help the ravioli cook more evenly. 

Step 26

Next, use a knife or one of those cool ravioli wheels to cut the raviolis.

Step 27

Sage Butter Sauce

Step 28

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. The butter will begin to bubble after a minute or so. 

Step 29

Add salt, pepper, and sage and continue stirring and cooking for another 1 to 2 minutes until the butter turns a light brown. Taste it (careful, it will be very hot). It should have a rich, nutty flavor. 

Step 30

Putting it all together

Step 31

Cook ravioli in regular salted pasta water, brought to a boil, making sure not to crowd them too much or they’ll cook unevenly. As they only take a few minutes to cook, make them in batches if needed. 

Step 32

Because these homemade ravioli are pretty delicate when cooked, I recommend using a handy food spider to remove them from the pasta pot instead of draining them in a colander.

Step 33

Drizzle sage butter sauce over the ravioli.

Step 34

Serve and enjoy!