Cacio e pepe ravioli
If you have been here for a while then you might have noticed a somewhat unplanned hiatus from stuffed pasta recipes. Perhaps it’s in part due to the time-poor nature of motherhood that steered me away from one of my favourite pastas to make, but I realised a couple of months ago that it has quite literally been an age since I shared a stuffed pasta recipe. I have since been reflecting - a lot, actually - about why I haven’t felt totally inspired to dip my toes into the pasta ripiena waters once more, and I came to realise that it had something to do with the monotony of a ricotta filling.
Now, do not get me wrong! I love a ricotta-filled pasta. In fact, at the time of developing this recipe I had just spent a few days inhaling balanzoni in Bologna (a combo of ricotta and morty D which was just *chef’s kiss*), and while I will always order a classic spinach and ricotta ravioli if I spy it on a menu - I just felt like ricotta was becoming a bit of a boring, repetitive base that I just lost a little bit of interest in.
Then I bought myself a copy of the Tipo 00 cookbook (an amazing restaurant in Melbourne, if you aren’t familiar), which is a fabulous book to have in your arsenal for when you want to make pasta but also want to chef it up a little. I noticed the use of a béchamel base in a couple of Papadakis’ fillings and it just sort of created this explosion of ideas in my mind.
What if - I thought - I could make a cacio e pepe ravioli that actually tasted like cacio e pepe and not like… ricotta with pepper. While ricotta is a relatively mild cheese, its flavour is unmistakable. And from experience even when adding in other cheeses, you can’t mask the fact that ricotta still remains the base. Béchamel, on the other hand, is bland AF, to put it bluntly. Which makes it the perfect vessel for the iconic flavour combo of pecorino Romano and black pepper that I was after.
It also happens to have the most incredible texture for a filling - it’s smooth, it’s creamy, it quite literally melts in your mouth. It’s taking the concept of a béchamel croquette and applying it to pasta. Quite the experience, I have to say, although it did take a few tweaks to get just right - the filling must be thick enough to hold form, while still having the ability to relax again once the pasta is cooked.
The finished dish? Perfectly plump ravioli, filled with a cacio e pepe cream, served with my favourite butter sauce (a beurre monté), fresh herbs (sage, lemon thyme, etc!) and a lil parmesan crisp for fun! All the details to follow 👇
Cacio e pepe ravioli
Yields approx 25-30 ravioli - recipe can be scaled. Serves 4 as primi or 2 larger plates
Ingredients
For the pasta
You can either use 1/2 batch of my master dough recipe here, or if you want to keep things easy/you don’t have much left on hand at home after Christmas, you can go for a beginner’s dough of 200g tipo 00 flour and 2 medium eggs (weighing roughly 48g each). This will yield roughly a 48% hydrated dough. Be mindful not to use large eggs as often the yolks are the same size and there’s a lot more egg whites - which will result in a very sticky and overly pliable dough.
For the parmesan crisp
1/2-1 cup finely grated parmigiano reggiano*
For the cacio e pepe filling
30g tipo 00 flour
30g unsalted butter
300ml whole milk
65g pecorino Romano, finely grated
Freshly ground black pepper, as desired
Finishing touches
100g unsalted butter
A few sprigs of lemon thyme or sage
Method
For the parmesan crisp
Preheat your oven to 200c/180c Fan/390f
*Depending on how many portions you’re making, finely grate 1/2 a cup (for 2) or 1 cup (for 4 serves) or parmigiano reggiano and place in 2 (or 4) circular mounds on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.
Press the mounds down slightly to flatten, then bake for approx 3-5 minutes or until bubbling and slightly golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool entirely on the tray. Keep to one side.
For the cacio e pepe filling
Heat the butter in a saucepan and once melted add the flour.
Mix until combined to form a roux, and then allow this to cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the milk to the roux - start with a small amount and whisk vigorously to combine, then add the rest and cook over a gentle heat until it reaches the thickness of double/thickened cream - more custard-like than pouring cream-like.
Remove from the heat and stir in the grated pecorino Romano and black pepper - I use about a 1/4 - 1/2 tsp but you can make the filling as peppery as you please.
Pour the filling onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, then cover with clingfilm - pressing it down into the filling.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to use.
For the pasta
Place the flour in a mound on your work surface and make a well in the centre. Pour the eggs into the well and using a fork, slowly begin to whisk until the yolks and whites have come together.
Start incorporating a little bit of flour at a time, whisking vigorously until you have a thick custard-like consistency.
Switch to a bench scraper, starting in front of you scoop up some flour from the outer edge and flip it over the centre. Use a chopping motion to cut the flour into the eggs. Repeat, moving around all sides of the flour.
Once you have a shaggy dough, use your hands to press into a ball. It might be a bit crumbly at first but keep going, and once you can see and feel a ball form starting to take shape, it’s time to knead.
After 5 minutes of kneading, cover the dough in something airtight and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. This will allow the dough to rehydrate and the gluten relax.
Return to the dough and continue kneading for another 5-7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic, and not sticky at all.
Cover the dough again and let it rest for a minimum of 30 minutes at room temperature before rolling and shaping.
If you need to leave your dough for longer, rest it in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before rolling and shaping.
Once rested, divide the dough into four pieces. Work with one at a time - flatten the piece with your hand or a rolling pin before passing it through the thickest setting on your pasta machine. Fold the edges in to create a neat rectangle that fits the width of your pasta machine, and run it through the thickest setting again until your dough is uniform in shape
Continue passing your dough through the machine, working through each thickness setting until you get to setting 6 or 7, depending on your preference for thickness of stuffed pasta.
Using a ravioli stamp
Take a rolled sheet of pasta and fold it lightly in half, then unfold again.
Use the stamp to lightly imprint on the bottom half of the sheet to guide where you place the filling.
Spoon or pipe a heaped teaspoon amount of the chilled filling into the centre of each imprint, then carefully fold the top half of the sheet over.
Use your fingers to gently press air out from around the filling.
Next, use the stamp to press down over the centre of the filling and create your ravioli.
Place on a baking sheet lined with a clean tea towel, or dusted with fine semolina and set aside until use.
Shaping ravioli free-hand
Take a rolled sheet of pasta and cut it in half.
Along one sheet of pasta, pipe or spoon the filling evenly spaced apart along the sheet.
Take the other half of the sheet and drape it over the filling to cover. Use your fingers to press around the filling and remove as much air as possible.
Use a pastry cutter, or tagliapasta to cut out each ravioli in whatever shape you like.
Place on a baking sheet lined with a clean tea towel, or dusted with fine semolina and set aside until use.
NB: if you aren’t planning on cooking the ravioli right away or if you have leftovers, I always recommended freezing them until you’re ready to use to prevent the base of the ravioli from getting soggy. Place the ravioli on a tray in a single layer and flash freeze for 20 minutes. Then place in an airtight container and store in the freezer until you’re ready to use. Cook directly from frozen (they might take 30 seconds-1 minute longer to cook so be mindful).
Finishing touches
Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil, season generously with salt.
Start with the beurre monté - the beauty of this butter sauce is once its stabilised, you can simply keep it warm while you prepare the rest of the dish.
Add a ~1/3 cup of cold water to a large frying or sauté pan over a medium heat.
Once the water is boiling, start to drop in a few cubes of cold butter, swirling the pan and whisking continuously until the butter is emulsified and uniform.
Continue adding the rest of the butter, whisking, whirling and swirling - throw in your herbs of choice (sage, thyme etc).
Drop the ravioli into the boiling water and cooking for 2 minutes, or 3 if frozen.
Scoop out with a slotted spoon or spider, and drop directly into the butter sauce.
Gently whirl and toss to coat all of the ravioli in the sauce.
Serve with lots of the butter sauce spooned on top, and a parmesan crisp if you fancy.
