This was another recipe the crew conquered during our Vegetarian Iron Chef party.

Ahhh… look at those beautiful little ravioli!

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Braised Leeks and Herb Salad

For the Filling
1 pound baby spinach, washed and stemmed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon oil
splash white wine
handful of bread crumbs to bind
1 egg
8 ounces of ricotta, water extracted with cheese cloth
salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg

Heat oil in a large pot on medium high heat. Add the spinach and garlic. With a wooden spoon or tongs, toss the spinach until it cooks down. Remove spinach and set aside. After it has cooled, squeeze out excess liquid.Chop the spinach, and toss with the remaining ingredients. Use your hands to combine them. If the mixture does not stick together, add more bread crumbs.

For the Ravioli
4 cups 00 flour (double zero is a fine grind of flour, available in specialty stores)
4 large whole eggs
* Alternately, you can use store bought fresh pasta sheets (4 sheets about 8×10 inches) or wonton wrappers for this recipe.

Pour the flour on a clean work space and make a well in the center. Crack the eggs and pour into the well. Use a fork to beat the eggs, gradually drawing flour into the mix. * Use only mild to medium pressure. Don’t worry, this is an easy process! Sprinkle your work surface with flour, and knead the dough. Work with it until mixture becomes homogenous. This will take a couple of minutes at the most. *If the pasta becomes too dry, sprinkle with some lukewarm water. Form the dough into a ball and cover with a towel. Let rest for ten to fifteen minutes. Roll the dough through the pasta machine several times until you get the desired thickness.On a clean work surface, lay out one of the pasta sheets. Place one teaspoon mounds of the spinach mixture on the pasta sheet, spacing them so there is 1 inch between each mound, and ½ inch around the edge of the sheet. Gently lay the second sheet of pasta directly on top of the first. Use your fingers to press down around each mound to seal the sheets together. Then use a ravioli cutter to punch out round shapes. Place the raviolis on a lightly-floured sheet pan, separating layers with parchment or wax paper.
Fill a pot ¾ full and bring to a gentle boil. Add oil and a pinch of salt. Place the ravioli gently into the boiling water. When they float to the top, they are ready. Remove with a slotted spoon.

For the Leek Sauce
3 to 4 cups of washed and chopped leeks
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary or herb of choice
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
¼ cup heavy cream
*tomato paste or cooked tomatoes can be added, too

Sauté the leeks in olive oil or butter until soft, then add stock, cream, and herbs. Bring to a simmer. Ladle over Ravioli.

For the Herb salad
2 cups mixed herbs
1 head frisée or winter greens, chopped

Toss herbs and frisée with olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Main Dishes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.