Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli and PRESTO PASTA NIGHTS

Our cat Walter supervising the pasta making

This week I am hosting Presto Pasta Nights for the first time. If you haven't heard of it before, check it out here: http://www.prestopastanights.com/ - it's a weekly round-up of pasta dishes sent in by fellow food bloggers. I have entered several times before, and am delighted to be hosting this week. To enter, please send me an email with a link to your recipe lacuisinedesarah (at) gmail (dot) com and copy ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by Thursday 15th September - I will put the round-up on the blog on Friday. The guidelines for entering a recipe are here.

Here is my pasta recipe for this this week - Homemade Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli served with a Sage & Caper butter.
Serves 2


Ingredients


200g of fresh pasta dough - basic recipe can be found here or here, rolled out into a rectangular sheet of dough
200g spinach, cooked and all water squeezed out
250g tub of ricotta
Good grating of nutmeg


50g butter
1 - 2 tablespoons of capers
10 fresh sage leaves
Salt and pepper
Grated parmesan style cheese to serve


1. To make the ravioli, first make the filling by mixing together the spinach, ricotta, and nutmeg. Season to taste. Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture along the bottom half of the pasta sheet at 10cm intervals (there may be some filling left over). Use flour or ground semolina to dust, to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.

2. Fold the upper half of the sheet down over the bottom half. Use one hand to cup around the filling, excluding any air (if there are large air bubbles the ravioli will split when cooking). Press around the edges then use a sharp knife or cutter to cut the ravioli.

3. When all of the ravioli has been cut, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. At the same time, start to melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the ravioli to the water and cook for 5 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Fry the sage leaves in the butter until crisp then add the capers and seasoning (be careful not to burn the butter). Carefully drain the ravioli then toss through the sauce. Serve immediately with grated cheese.