Bunny's Cookbook

Homemade Mushroom and Spinach Ravioli

Ingredients:

Ravioli filling:

• ⁠.5 ounces dried chanterelle or porcini mushrooms
• ⁠1 teaspoon olive oil
• ⁠3 ounces baby spinach
• ⁠1 cup ricotta cheese
• ⁠Salt and pepper to taste

Ravioli:

• ⁠1 egg
• ⁠3 egg yolks
• ⁠½ teaspoon salt
• ⁠½ cup 00 flour or all-purpose flour
• ⁠½ cup semolina flour (or use 00 flour or all-purpose flour)
• ⁠1 tablespoon olive oil
• ⁠A few splashes of water

Roasted garlic:

• ⁠1 head of garlic, top cut off
• ⁠Olive oil
• ⁠Pinch of salt

Sauce:

• ⁠Reserved mushroom soaking liquid from above
• ⁠1 tablespoon olive oil
• ⁠1 yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
• ⁠2 tablespoons tomato paste
• ⁠½ cup red wine
• ⁠28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
• ⁠5 sprigs thyme
• ⁠Pinch of sugar to taste
• ⁠Salt and pepper

For serving:

• ⁠Finely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Roast the garlic:

1. ⁠Preheat oven to 300ºF.

2. ⁠Place the garlic, cut side up, in a small ramekin or miniature cocotte. Pour olive oil on top of the garlic to immerse it completely. Add a pinch of salt. Cover with foil or lid and transfer to the oven for 30–45 minutes until the garlic is very soft and golden brown.

3. ⁠Remove from the oven. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, pop the cloves from the paper and mash them into a paste with a fork.

4. ⁠Pour the reserved oil through a sieve into a mason jar. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Note: You can prepare the garlic in the morning or the night before.

Soak the mushrooms:

1. ⁠Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Pour over the mushrooms and let stand for 20–30 minutes. Strain the soaking liquid into another bowl through a fine-mesh sieve.

2. ⁠Finely mince the mushrooms and transfer them to a medium bowl.

Prepare the spinach:

1. ⁠Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small skillet. Add the spinach and cook until bright green and wilted. Transfer to an ice bath. Drain and transfer the spinach to a paper towel-lined plate. Use paper towels to squeeze out as much of the water from the spinach as possible.

2. ⁠Mince the spinach and transfer to the bowl with the minced chanterelles.

Prepare the filling:

1. ⁠To the bowl of mushrooms and spinach, add the ricotta cheese. Mix well. Taste and add salt and pepper. Refrigerate until needed.

Make the sauce:

1. ⁠Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the diced onion and cook for 6 minutes until soft. Add the roasted garlic paste and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

2. ⁠Add the tomato paste and mash into the garlic and onion for 2–3 minutes until it deepens in color and begins to stick to the bottom of the pot.

3. ⁠Pour in the red wine and stir to incorporate the tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the reserved mushroom-soaking liquid.

4. ⁠Add the whole peeled tomatoes and thyme sprigs. Add a generous pinch of salt, sugar, and black pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring periodically to ensure the sauce does not stick.

5. ⁠After 1 hour, remove the lid and taste the sauce. Add more salt, pepper, or sugar if needed.

6. ⁠Using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes to break them up. Continue simmering on low heat until the sauce is thick.

Prepare the ravioli dough:

1. ⁠While the sauce simmers, make the ravioli.

2. ⁠In a food processor, combine the egg, egg yolks, salt, and olive oil and pulse until creamy and combined. Add the 00 flour and pulse to combine. Add the semolina flour and continue pulsing until combined.

3. ⁠If the dough seems too dry, add a few splashes of water. The dough should be sticky but still hold together.

Finish the dough:

1. ⁠Pour the dough onto a floured surface and knead until you form the dough into a smooth, elastic ball, about 7-8 minutes total. Wrap it with plastic wrap and transfer it to the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes to chill.

Roll the dough:

1. ⁠Cut the dough ball into 4 equal-sized pieces. You will start with two sections of dough first, so refrigerate the other two pieces of dough as you make the first batch of ravioli.

2. ⁠Using your hands, flatten each piece into an equal-sized rectangle and dust it with flour.

3. ⁠Run the first piece through a pasta machine on the widest setting (0). Dust liberally with more flour on both sides and fold the dough in half. Run through the pasta machine on the widest setting again. Unfold and dust with flour again.

4. ⁠Continue passing the dough through the machine, incrementally decreasing the width on the machine until you reach level 6 on the machine. Be sure to dust the dough between passes. The sheet of pasta should be thin but not breaking apart; you should be able to see your fingers through it.

5. ⁠Lay it on a floured surface once you have a very long sheet.

6. ⁠Meanwhile, roll out another piece of dough into another long piece, similar to the previous sheet. Place on a floured surface until needed. Make sure the surface is well-floured; otherwise, the dough will stick!

Form the ravioli:

1. ⁠Using a tablespoon, spoon the ravioli filling equidistant apart on the sheet of dough. You want about 2" of clear space around the filling. You will likely have about 8 spoonfuls of filling across the sheet.

2. ⁠Carefully lay the second dough sheet on top of the first sheet, lining it up as much as possible.

3. ⁠Press the dough around the filling using your fingers to push out air pockets. You want the top layer of dough to adhere as tightly to the filling and the bottom layer of dough as possible.

4. ⁠Cut the ravioli out using a stamp, knife, or even a round cookie cutter. Discard the leftover dough; there should be little excess.

5. ⁠Continue with the remaining 2 sections of dough until you have used up all the filling.

Transfer to the refrigerator:

1. ⁠Dust a cookie sheet with flour and arrange the ravioli on it. Transfer to the refrigerator until needed.

Cook the ravioli:

1. ⁠Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli and cook until the ravioli float, about 3–4 minutes.

Finish the ravioli:

1. ⁠Using a spider strainer, transfer the cooked ravioli directly to the sauce. Toss very gently to coat. Turn off the heat.

To serve:

1. ⁠Carefully transfer the ravioli to a serving platter. Spoon the sauce on top. Finish with finely grated Parmesan and a drizzle of garlic oil. Enjoy!