Pea & Pecorino Ravioli ai Fiori

Serves 4

Prep time: 60 Minutes
Cook time: 10 Minutes

Special Equipment

brass flower ravioli stamp

hand-cranked pasta machine

Ingredients

For the filling:
2 cups peas, frozen
½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
5-6 leaves of fresh mint
Kosher salt, q.b.

For the pasta:
450 grams of fresh pasta

For the sauce:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pecorino Romano cheese, q.b.

Method

To make the filling:

Blanch peas in a pot of salted boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. Drain into an ice bath. Once cooled, add peas to a food processor along with the Pecorino, mint, and salt. Pulse until smooth.

Place filling in a sealable plastic bag or piping bag. Set aside in the fridge until ready to fill the pasta.

To make the flower ravioli:

Line two large baking sheets with a tea towel or parchment paper. Sprinkle with flour.

Unwrap dough and divide into quarters. Remove one quarter, then set aside and wrap up the rest of the dough to keep it from drying out.

Roll out your first piece of dough into a rectangle, about 2 inches wide and 3 inches long.

Set your hand-cranked pasta machine to the widest setting. Feed the rectangle piece of dough through the machine. Adjust the setting to the second widest. Feed the dough through again, cranking at an even pace. Adjust the setting one more time to the third widest setting and feed the dough once again.

At this point, take the dough and fold it onto itself three times, like a trifold brochure. Adjust the setting on the pasta machine to the widest setting once again. Feed the dough through each setting, going from the widest all the way to the thinnest.

Using a ravioli stamp, cut out flower shapes. Pipe about a teaspoon of the filling in the center of half of the flowers. Use the remaining circles to top each piece. Gently seal the ravioli with your fingertips, removing any air bubbles as best you can. Set aside each finished raviolo on the floured baking sheet.

To assemble the dish:

In a large pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Once the butter starts to bubble, cook the ravioli a pot of salted boiling water for about 3 minutes, or until al dente. Depending on the size of your water pot, you may need to cook the ravioli in two batches to keep them from sticking.

Gently remove ravioli with a slotted spoon and add directly to the butter sauce. Cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes, carefully coating all of the pasta until glossy.

Divide equally among plates and serve with fresh mint and a sprinkle of grated Pecorino Romano.