Pasta Pillows

@ Sin Ming Cook house / Bakery / Whatever

Here’s a little something I tried making from one of my various cook books: Ravioli, cute little bite sized pillows of pasta filled with as little or as much ingredient as you can imagine.  I found this recipe in “Your Place or Mine?”; a cook book co-authored by two of MasterChef Australia’s judges: Gary Mehigan and George Colombaris.

Since I had some left over ‘00’ flour I decided to put it to good use and try my hand a making: Haloumi and mint ravioli with burnt butter and raisins.  Sadly though I wasn’t able to secure any Haloumi pasta from my local supermarket so I substituted it with some Greek feta cheese (sticking with George’s Greek heritage).

Ingredients – Pasta Dough

• 250g  ‘00’ flour
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients – Filling

• 400g Haloumi / Feta cheese
• 200g firm ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs (1 lightly beaten)
• 10 shredded mint leaves
• Salt
• 150g unsalted butter (chopped)
• 130g raisins
• 130g pistachios (peeled and lightly roasted)
• 3-4 slices of Parma ham chopped

Directions

1. Place flour in mixing bowl and add the eggs (whole) then the egg yolks and olive oil until the dough reaches a course breadcrumb consistency
2. Remove from bowl and shape into a ball, wrap it in cling film and allow it to rest for at least 2 hours
3. Finely grate/shred the feta in a mixing bowl, add the ricotta, Parma ham 2 unbeaten eggs and mint.
4. Divide the filling into approximately 12 small balls and set aside
5. Working on a flour dusted surface, divide the dough ball in 1/2
6. Using a pasta machine with its widest setting, feed the dough though
7. Fold the flattened sheet in 1/2 then feed it through the machine again
8. Repeat set 7 again two more times
9. Feed pasta through the machine again reducing the thickness setting by one
10. Continue until you reach the second last setting
11. Cut the final sheet in 1/2 and cover with a damp towel
12. Repeat for the remaining pasta dough
13. Take one sheet of rolled pasta and place 6 of the cheese filling on it (evenly spaced)
14. Brush the gaps between the filling with the beaten egg
15. Place another pasta sheet in top of the first sheet (with filling), press around the filling to remove any air bubbles
16. Using a knife cut  6m squares
17. Place your ravioli on a dusted tray
18. Bring a large sauce pan of salted water to the boil, cook the ravioli for 4 minutes (or until they float to the surface) remove and keep warm
19. Melt butter in a frying pan until it turns a light brown, add raisins and pistachios
20. Pour over the ravioli immediately, garnish with additional mint leaves

Feta & Mint Ravioli with Burnt Butter & Raisins VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I know there are a lot of steps here to follow, but as they say, good things come to those who wait.  And trust me this dish is really worth it!

Bon Appétit – Sidney