Cooking ravioli - tips and secrets. What is ravioli and how to cook it deliciously How to cook ravioli at home recipe

What first comes to mind when the words “Italian cuisine” reach our ears? We immediately think of pizza, spaghetti, risotto, ravioli and several famous sauces. This country has inspired the creativity of many great people for centuries, and today artists, architects, fashion designers and, of course, culinary specialists draw inspiration from Italy, because cooking in this country has been elevated to the rank of art. Even people who are very far from the kitchen will not remain indifferent after trying at least a small part of the rich selection of dishes filled with the spicy aromas of herbs and the freshness of skillfully prepared vegetables. From all the variety of sunny, captivating and luxurious cuisine of temperamental Italy, we chose ravioli - a dish popular in every region of this country.

Italy is far from us, why is there such interest in ravioli? The fact is that everyone has tried one or another version of this dish. Surely you have already prepared pasta, dumplings and dumplings with many delicious fillings, and now try making ravioli. Some call them Italian dumplings, others believe that they are similar to dumplings, and still others are sure that they are a type of pasta. All these opinions agree that ravioli is a dish made of thin dough with a wide variety of fillings. The filling can be anything - meat, seafood, cream cheese or vegetables. From a main dish, ravioli can easily turn into a delicious dessert, you just have to make it sweet filling of fruits, berries or chocolate.

One or another version of the filling, wrapped in dough, is found in the recipes of many cuisines around the world, so how did the Italians learn about ravioli? According to one version, this national Italian dish comes from China. The recipe for making ravioli became known to the Italians thanks to their compatriot, the traveler Marco Polo, who lived for some time in China, visited its provinces and tried various local dishes. The traveler remembered the province of Sichuan thanks to a dish called Hongtong, the recipe for which he brought home. It is not known who exactly renamed huntun into ravioli, but the Italians adopted this dish with this name and are now recognized as one of their favorite national dishes.

How is ravioli different from the dumplings and dumplings we are used to? First of all, the form. Ravioli is molded in the form of square pillows, in the form of crescents, triangles and circles. They also differ in the method of preparation and serving. So, ravioli cannot be prepared for future use; it is a dish that must be eaten immediately after it is prepared. The fact is that freshness can be called a distinctive feature of Italian cuisine, which is why the freshest products are used to prepare ravioli, which you need to have time to eat quickly. You can prepare ravioli by boiling them, frying them in a frying pan or deep-frying them. Boiled ravioli can be used as an independent dish, served with olives or some kind of hot sauce. Fried or deep-fried ravioli are served with pureed soups and broths, carefully ensuring that the taste of their filling complements and matches the main dish.

If you decide to make ravioli, you should start with the dough, because only fresh dough makes the most delicious ravioli. Prepare the kitchen, because the room where the ravioli is being prepared should be cool, wash your hands in cold water and start cooking. Sift 200 grams of durum wheat flour into a deep bowl, make a well in the center with your hands, break two eggs into it, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a little salt. Lightly beat the eggs and start mixing them with the flour until you get a homogeneous mass. Place the mixture on a large cutting board sprinkled with flour and begin kneading the dough for 10-15 minutes. In general, to make a good dough, you need to have good physical strength, so it is better to entrust this responsible task to the powers that be, i.e. men. When the dough is ready, wrap it in film and leave it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. This time will be needed to prepare the most delicious filling.

You can prepare the filling that you like best, for example, from ricotta and champignons, from spinach and cottage cheese, from chicken with celery or from berries with orange and cinnamon.

Ricotta and champignon filling

Ingredients:
250 gr. fresh champignons,
250 gr. ricotta,
1 tbsp. parmesan,
1 tbsp. finely chopped parsley,
1 clove of garlic,
olive oil,
salt,
pepper.

Preparation:
Wash the champignons, dry and finely chop. Peel and chop the garlic clove. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms in it, add garlic, salt and pepper. Fry for a couple of minutes, then cool. Beat the ricotta until creamy, add grated Parmesan and parsley, mix thoroughly and combine the resulting mixture with the mushrooms.

Spinach and cottage cheese filling

Ingredients:
500 gr. spinach,
100 gr. cottage cheese,
75 gr. semi-hard cheese,
salt,
pepper.

Preparation:
Place a pan of clean salted water on the fire. Rinse the spinach in running water and chop, then simmer in boiling water for 2 minutes and set aside. colander. Grate the cheese on a fine grater and mix it with cottage cheese, add spinach, salt, pepper to this mixture and mix thoroughly.

Chicken stuffing with celery

Ingredients:
800 gr. chicken fillet,
300 gr. petiole celery,
50 ml. cream,
pepper,
salt.

Preparation:
Cut the chicken fillet into small pieces and grind in a blender. Celery rinse thoroughly, cut on both sides and also grind in a blender. Combine fillet and celery, add cream, salt, pepper and stir.

Berry filling with orange and cinnamon

Ingredients:
80 gr. currants,
80 gr. blueberries,
80 gr. Victoria,
1 orange,
1 tsp cinnamon.

Preparation:
Peel the orange, disassemble into slices and remove all films, the remaining pulp is fine cut. Rinse and dry the berries, place in a bowl and mash with a fork, add orange pulp and a teaspoon of cinnamon, mix thoroughly.

When the filling is ready, you can remove the dough from the refrigerator. Now you will need a noodle cutter; if such a unit is not in your kitchen arsenal, then stock up on a rolling pin, flour and patience. Divide the dough into two equal parts, sprinkle the work surface with flour, arm yourself with a rolling pin and start rolling out. The dough layer should be very thin and, if possible, square or rectangular. The result of your efforts should be two rectangles of dough no more than 1 mm thick, which must be left alone for 10 minutes before you begin to lay out the filling. Now put the filling on one of the layers of dough in small slides at an equal distance, for example 5 centimeters, and cover everything with a second layer of dough. Depending on what shape of ravioli you want, cut the dough into squares with a knife or cut out circles using a glass, pinch the edges and boil in lightly salted water or fry in vegetable oil.

Despite the fact that ravioli is considered an Italian dish, it is also prepared in France in the Provence region. Provençal ravioli is a very special dish. Our usual dishes often have alternative cooking options, so you can find recipes for “lazy” dumplings, dumplings and even cabbage rolls. The version of preparing ravioli that Provence offers can also be called “lazy”, because this dish is prepared without dough.

Provençal ravioli

Ingredients:
500 gr. minced meat,
1 large bunch of spinach,
50 gr. hard cheese,
1 egg,
50 g finely chopped parsley,
2 cloves of garlic,
nutmeg,
pepper,
salt.

Preparation:
Wash the spinach thoroughly, cut off its stems and boil the leaves in salted water for 10 minutes, then drain them in a colander and grind in a blender. Mix minced meat and spinach, add grated cheese, 1 egg, finely chopped garlic and parsley, salt, pepper and add a little nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. Place a pan of salted water on the fire and add a little olive oil. Wait for the water to boil, pour flour into a plate, roll the resulting filling into small dense balls, roll them in flour and place in boiling water. Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Instead of traditionally making dumplings in a narrow family circle, try making ravioli - the national dish of aromatic Italian cuisine. Add a little variety by diluting the usual minced meat with vegetables, cheese and herbs. Get inspired by the Italian idea that cooking is an art, and every cook is a talented creator, and you will definitely get the most delicious, most original and aromatic ravioli!

Alena Karamzina

The more I immerse myself in the study of my favorite Italian cuisine, the more I understand that it has managed to acquire a wide variety of myths among us. One of them says that handmade pasta is time-consuming, difficult and expensive. And pasta with filling (ravioli, tortelloni, panzerotti, etc.) is generally something beyond the pale, it’s not worth even trying, it’s better to go to an Italian restaurant and eat such pasta there.

To be honest, I used to think exactly the same thing. But as soon as I saw how real Italians prepare pasta, this myth was dispelled instantly and forever. They make handmade pasta effortlessly, knead the dough in 5-10 minutes, quickly prepare the filling (sometimes in advance to speed up the process) and then enthusiastically mold a variety of shapes (round, square, triangles). I really like that the pasta filling is often prepared from a variety of vegetables and goes very harmoniously with both young and aged cheese (ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, etc.)

Today I’ll tell you how to prepare one of the most popular types of ravioli with a delicate filling of spinach and ricotta.

You will need:

Dough:

600 g wheat flour
- 6 eggs

Filling:

300 g spinach (can be frozen)

250 g ricotta cheese
- 60 g Parmesan cheese
- ½ tsp. salt

Ravioli dressing:

50 g butter
- 3 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tomato (optional)

1. First, replace the dough with pasta by mixing 600g flour and 6 eggs (if you need to make less or more ravioli, know that the classic recipe for filled pasta dough uses 1 egg for every 100g flour). If the dough turns out a little dry (eggs come in different sizes and weights, flour can also have different weights depending on how it was stored and how it was made, so this can happen), add 1-2 egg yolks. The dough will become a little softer, plus the yolks will give your pasta a nice yellow color. I usually cheat a little and achieve a yellow color by adding 1/3-1/2 tsp to the paste. turmeric powder (works great!).

2. When the dough is ready, let it rest for 5-10 minutes, and if you are not going to use it right away, wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator.

3. To prepare the filling, simmer the spinach in vegetable oil for 5 minutes (fresh spinach will need to be finely chopped, while frozen spinach is usually already chopped or very young with small heads of cabbage), it should soften. Season it lightly with salt and mix in the ricotta and Parmesan.

4. Take a small part of your dough, dust it well with flour and roll it out into a layer 1-2 mm thick.

The easiest and fastest way is to use a pasta machine. I have this one:

5. Fold the dough sheet in half, unfold it back and place the filling in small portions at a distance of 3 cm. Grease the space around the filling with your fingers, which you previously dipped in warm water, fold the dough sheet back (cover the filling) and gently crimp the balls with the filling so that to remove excess air from under the top layer of dough.

If you don't have one, you can simply cut the already filled dough into squares with a knife and go around the edges of each ravioli square with a fork, pressing one layer of dough to the other and thereby securing the edges. Ravioli is ready! Now you can cook them immediately or freeze them for later.

Or, to simplify your task, you can follow the example of Patricia Barbieri to make panzerotti (triangles with filling), it’s even easier)

7. To cook ravioli, boil 2 liters. water, lightly salt it and cook the ravioli for about 4-5 minutes until the dough is ready (do not overcook! This is important, see below for why).

8. Simply boiled ravioli is good, but you can make it even tastier! Prepare ravioli dressing from butter and herbs with garlic. To do this, melt 50 g of butter in a frying pan, fry chopped garlic in it for 1-2 minutes, add fresh, finely chopped herbs and boiled ravioli (they should not have excess water, so it is better to take them out on a separate plate in advance so that all the water had already drained from them).

Ravioli with spinach and ricotta with oil and garlic dressing with herbs

In the case of ravioli, you can endlessly experiment with fillings. I also really love the filling of baked pumpkin with Gorgonzola (a combination of sweet and salty, mmm!) and boiled eggplant, fried with onions, garlic and.

Bon appetit and interesting culinary experiments!

Ravioli or, as they are also called, dumplings in Italian, are not difficult to prepare. Many are not even interested in how to cook Italian dishes, considering them something unrealistically labor-intensive and inaccessible. In fact, anyone can make their own pasta, and especially stuffed pasta (which is what ravioli are), and we suggest checking this out.

By the way, this Italian dish, as it turns out, is not so Italian after all. Its exact origin is still debated to this day. Some argue that the first ravioli were known as a Sicilian traditional dish from the 13th century. And others say that Marco Polo brought a similar dish called Hongtong from China, and later in Italy cooks gave it a different name. One way or another, fortunately, the whole world learned about him.

Ravioli dough is made with eggs and flour. Italians knead it only with their hands, but we can also use a food processor. Our recipe and photo show what the finished dough should look like. Real ravioli is made from flour crumbs. If it happens that the dough is too dry - so dry that even the food processor does not “take” it, then you can add an yolk or a spoonful of water. If you did everything correctly, kneaded the mixture well, then the result will be a soft, plastic dough that rolls out easily and does not tear.

Italy is traditionally considered the birthplace of ravioli. Oh, how many wonderful dishes this country has given us. It must be said that pasta is generally the pride of Italians. It was in Italy that pasta and its varieties appeared, which include ravioli. Although the history of the origin of this dish is not so clear. Some believe that the birthplace of ravioli (as well as many other analogues of dumplings) is China. There is an opinion that they were brought to Italy by the traveler Marco Polo in the 13th century. Others do not agree with this point of view and insist that ravioli was already a signature Sicilian dish. Of course, the truth cannot be found in these culinary battles, and do we really need it? The important thing is that the ravioli tastes great!