RAVIOLI Part I

Well its Sunday and what a better day than to .... no not sleep but make Ravioli! I've decided to try the Monticchio Style Ravioli which basically is the traditional spinach and ricotta but with a bit of Cognac liqueur. Will try and put a couple fotos here if I can figure how to do it.

The sauce will be posted seperately in the Get Sauced Part III post.

Serving Six
To make the ravioli (the pasta for the ravioli) you will need the following:
- 1 lb or 1 kilo of all-purpose flour or the 00 type in Italy
- 3 eggs for the lb version or about 7 eggs for the kilo (to simplify measurements)
- Salt (a pinch)
- a T spoon or olive oil
To make the filling you need the following:
- 3/4 lb of ricotta cheese or about 500 gr
- Spinach
- 2 eggs
- parsley
- black pepper
- salt
- a sprinkle of nutmeg
- Cognac to taste

To prepare the dough: pour the flour on either a large cutting board or a marble surface, make a vulcano shape and with your fist, gently make an indentation in the center. Mix the eggs seperately in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and when mixed pour in the center of your vulcano. Add a bit of extra vergin olive oil and start to kneed the dough buy pushing the flour towards the center until you have a good size ball. With the palms of your hands start to kneed (probably for about 10 minutes or so) until the texture is smooth. Let the dough set for about 20 minutes (cover it with a damp cloth). You will thenn need to roll-out the dough either with a pin or a pasta machine so as to make long strips of pasta. With a spoon, place the filling in little balls in the center of your stip of pasta making sure that you leave about 3 inches between each ball. When you have your stip (s) of pasta filled with the balls of filling, prepare some egg yolk and with a brush (i use a thin paint brush) paint with your egg yolk along one side of the strip so when you close the strip over the balls it will adhere and keep the newly formed ravioled sealed with put to boil. Cut the ravioli out of the closed strip of pasta with a pasta cutter or an expresso coffee cup and there you have it.

Stay tuned for the sauce!