Calabrian Ravioli with Sausage Sauce
Ravioli Calabresi con Il Sugo di Salsiccia
Serves 4 for main course or 6 appetizer plates
Printable Version
Prepare the Calabrian Sauce with Sausage. And keep warm. While you make the ravioli this step can be made the day before.
Prepare the stuffing.
In a medium sized glass mixing bowl, combine the minced soppresatta, ricotta cheese, egg yolk and romano and parmesan cheeses. Stir with a wooded spoon to combine well. Salt and pepper to taste (about ¼ teaspoon of salt and pinch of pepper). Stir, cover with plastic film and set aside.
Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Prepare the pasta according to the directions.
Line two cookie sheets with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towels, dusted with four.
You will have 4 portions of pasta dough. Use one portion at a time. Cover the remaining pieces with a sprinkle of four and plastic wrap and set aside.
Lightly dust the pasta and roll through the machine according to the directions starting at the fattest setting, all the way down to the thinnest setting. About half way through cut the sheet in half, for more manageable lengths of dough, continuing to roll each to the thinnest setting.
Lay the two sheets out on a lightly floured board.
Each sheet will be roughly 5 inches wide and 15 to 18 inches long. Trim the ends of the sheets.
Using a ridged rolling pastry cutter (or a sharp knife) cut each sheet into 2 ½ inch squares or as close as you can get (2 to 3 inches), based on the dimension of the sheet.
You should have an even number of pasta squares (or rounds). Line them up in two’s on the board.
Place about one scant teaspoon measure of the reserved filling mixture in the center of half the pasta squares.
Brush the edges of the square (with the filling on it), and the edges of a second, unfilled piece with water.
Place the unfilled piece on top of the piece with filling, sealing the wet edges together, by gently pressing together with your fingers. If you need to lift the edges of the bottom piece up to meet the top, do so. Gently press the dough down around the filling. Remove to the prepared cookie sheet. Continue with the remaining squares. You should have 12 to 14 ravioli. Cover with a lightly dampened kitchen towel and set aside.
Continue with the remaining portions of pasta dough, one at a time. Until you have used all the dough and have 48 to 56 ravioli (plus or minus).
Sprinkle some salt into the boiling water. In small batches (depending on the size of your pot), place the ravioli into the boiling water. Do not over crowd the pot. The ravioli will cook very quickly. They will sink, then float to the top. Cook 2 - 4 minutes. (The Ravioli that have been sitting the longest will need slightly more time than the last batch made).
Scoop the cooked ravioli out with a mesh strainer. Drain over the pot VERY WELL and place on serving plate.
Continue to cook all ravioli.
Spoon a small amount of sauce over the ravioli. Sprinkle with grated Romano and Parmesan to taste. Serve immediately.
CHEF’s TIP:
If you would like to make tortelli instead of ravioli, cut the pasta into 2 ½ inch rounds, using a cookie cutter. Fill, cook and serve as you would the square shapes.
