These mushroom ravioli are a double down on porcini mushrooms: There is porcini powder in the pasta, and the filling is a puree of fresh porcini mushrooms. I make a lot of ravioli and other filled pasta, but this ranks as one of my favorites: It is the earth in a bite.
I like my recipe the way it is, but there are a few substitutions you can make. You can skip the farro or whole wheat flour and use all-purpose, and you can use dried porcini mushrooms, too. If you are doing that, rehydrate them in hot water for 30 minutes or so before proceeding with the recipe. You will want about about 1 ounce of dried porcini.
The filling is rich, so make your porcini ravioli on the small side; if you want, you can make them into tortellini.
Mushroom Ravioli
Ingredients
PASTA
- 4 ounces farro, spelt or whole wheat flour (about 1 cup)
- 4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 heaping cup)
- 5 ounces water (about 3/4 cup)
- 0.5 ounces porcini powder (about 2 tablespoons)
FILLING
- 1/2 pound fresh porcini, or cremini mushrooms, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt to taste
TO SERVE
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, halved or kept whole if small
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- black pepper to taste
- Lemon juice to taste
Instructions
- Mix the two flours and porcini powder in a large bowl and mix to combine. Make a well in the center of the flour. Pour the water into the well in the flour. Mix with a fork until shaggy, then mix with your hands until the dough comes together. Knead on a floured surface for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the dough is elastic, and not sticky. Wrap in plastic wrap, and set aside for at least 1 hour, and up to a day in the fridge.
- Brown the porcini in the butter, then add the garlic. Sprinkle some salt over the pan. Saute everything until the garlic turns golden, then pour in the cream and the thyme. Simmer gently until the porcini are soft, about 5 minutes. Toss the thyme sprigs and scrape everything into a blender. Buzz into a puree. Taste for salt again and add some if needed.
- Set yourself up a large area to work. Cut the dough into four pieces. Cover the rest with the plastic wrap. Roll the dough out until it is a long, thin sheet -- but not all the way to the final setting; I go to No. 6 on my Atlas machine, where No. 9 is the thinnest. Cut the sheet in half. Place about a teaspoon of filling at the center of one sheet, about 2 inches apart. Pat the filling down into a flattish disk. Lay the other sheet on top of the first one, and press it down around the filling, leaving no air pockets. Use a pasta cutter or a knife to cut the ravioli out. Set each one on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal.
- To finish, get a large pot of water boiling, and salt it well. In a large saute pan, melt the butter over high heat. Add the mushrooms to the pan, cut side down if you've halved them. Brown them well on that side, then flip and cook on the other. At this point, move the ravioli to the boiling water, about 10 at a time. Boil for 1 minute after they float to the surface. Move them to the pan and toss with the fresh mushrooms and butter. Add the sage and freshly ground black pepper. Spritz with a touch of lemon juice and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
