Ah, very little feels more rewarding than a delicious plate of fresh homemade filled pasta after hours of hard work in the kitchen. Admittedly, no matter how often you practise, making fresh pasta (and filled pasta in particular) takes a lot of time and effort. It is however really not very difficult, and if you have enough time and patience, it can be a stress-free process (though I’ll be honest and tell you this is rarely the case for me).

I already shared with you my recipe for spinach tortellini with butternut squash, which perhaps included some more unusual and original flavour combinations, but while today’s recipe for pea and ricotta ravioli with mint pesto is based on more traditional pairings, it is truly delicious and has some exciting elements.

In this recipe, the spinach from the classic spinach and ricotta filling was replaced by frozen peas, and the mint from a classic mint and pea combination was included as a topping, within a homemade pesto that I created with garlic, pecorino cheese and my favourite pumpkin seeds.

Making homemade ravioli

If you have never made homemade ravioli, the process might seem intimidating, but if you follow the below steps carefully you will find this recipe to be quite fool-proof.

The way I used to shape my ravioli in the past was by cutting out separate round pieces of pasta dough. I would then top with some filling and stick together with a bit of water. However, this method is tricky for two reasons. Firstly because it can be hard to align both sides of the ravioli neatly. Secondly, it’s far more difficult to seal them properly which is super important to ensure the filling doesn’t come out of the ravioli when you boil them.

The right method

The more professional and standard method is to roll large sheets of pasta dough and then top with some filling, with enough space in between, then top with another large sheet, press around the filling and cut out each ravioli with a round or special ravioli cutter.

This totally works but does require some practise. You need to be very careful when you place the pasta sheet on top of the other to ensure there is little to no air around the filling.

A more easy way to do it, is by cutting the sheets in smaller squares, using something like a pizza wheel cutter, then place some filling in the centre, top with another square of pasta dough, seal and cut out your ravioli with something round like a cookie cutter or a small water glass.

For me, working with smaller pieces of pasta dough is better as it’s easier to ensure there is no excess air around the filling. It’s also far easier to properly seal the ravioli’s and ultimately create a better-looking result this way. I am using this method in the recipe below, but if you’re interested in the more standard method mentioned earlier, I tried this too and you can see how to do this in one of the pictures underneath this recipe.

The mint pesto

I absolutely love mint and just couldn’t make any pea ravioli without including mint somewhere within the recipe. I preferred to keep the actual ravioli itself quite simple with minimal but great flavours (this is how I prefer to enjoy my filled pasta), but include mint by adding a homemade pesto. The quantities in this pesto differ from what I would use for a more traditional pesto, but I found the below really works as a topping for this ravioli dish. I replaced pine nuts with pumpkin seeds which gives it a very interesting flavour!

Alright, enough talking, let’s get to it…

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Pea and Ricotta Ravioli with Mint Pesto Recipe


  • Author: Michiel Steur
  • Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Description

This recipe for homemade ravioli with pea and ricotta and a delicious fresh mint pesto is a true showstopper!


Scale

Ingredients

For the fresh pasta:

  • 200g Italian ’00’ flour (or plain flour)
  • 3 medium eggs
  • Pinch of saltFor the filling:
  • 150g frozen peas
  • 250g ricotta cheese
  • 20g parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

For the mint pesto:

  • 10g fresh mint
  • 10g pecorino cheese
  • 8g pumpkin seeds
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt, to taste

Instructions

Step 1: Make the pasta dough

  1. Split one of the three eggs. Combine the egg yolk with the two other eggs and whisk together.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add flour and a generous pinch of salt (very important!) and make a small well in the centre. Poor in the egg mixture, and mix with the dough hook on low speed until the dough starts coming together. Finish by hand.
  3. If doing by hand, mix the flour and salt and tip onto your kitchen worktop. Make a well in the centre and poor in the egg mixture. Combine egg and flour by gradually incorporating some of the flour into the eggs, using a fork. Do so until most of the flour is incorporated, then knead by hand for a good 10 minutes until you have a smooth dough.
  4. If using a food processor, add all the ingredients to the food processor and blitz until the dough started coming together. Finish by hand.
  5. Wrap dough in clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour, and up until 24 hours, before using.

Step 2: Prepare the filling

  1. In a bowl, combine the ricotta and parmesan cheese until fully combined.
  2. Blanch the frozen peas until cooked, approximately 3 minutes.
  3. Add peas to a food processor or mini chopper and pulse until you have the consistency of a thick purée, with some larger bits of pea. See picture below for the right consistency.
  4. Stir peas through the ricotta mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge while you move on to the next steps.

Step 3: Make the pesto

  1. Add mint and extra virgin olive oil to a food processor or mini chopper. Blitz until mint is chopped finely.
  2. Add pecorino cheese, pumpkin seeds and garlic and blitz into a pesto. Add salt to taste, if needed.

Step 4: Shape the ravioli

  1. Roll out the pasta to the thinnest setting using a pasta maker. If doing by hand, roll thinly with a rolling pin until the dough is slightly see-through.
  2. Cut dough into small square pieces, slightly bigger than the size of your cookie/ravioli cutter. Add a teaspoon of filling into the centre of your dough square. Wet around the filling with a little water using a pastry brush.
  3. Cover with another piece of dough, and seal firmly all around the filling. It’s important to try and avoid having any excess air around the filling, this takes a little practise.
  4. Using a cookie or ravioli cutter or a small water glass, cut out your ravioli. Transfer to a baking sheet and cover with some flour and cling film.

Step 5: Cook and plate

 

  1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Cook ravioli for approximately 4 minutes.
  2. Remove ravioli from the pot using a slotted spoon, or drain carefully using a colander.
  3. Cover the ravioli with some drops of the mint pesto. Add some additional extra virgin olive oil. Top with some crushed pumpkin seeds and pecorino cheese.

  • Category: Main Course
  • Method: Boiling
  • Cuisine: Italian

Nutrition

  • Calories: 540

Keywords: homemade pea ravioli recipe, pea and mint ravioli, fresh mint pesto ravioli, pea and mint fresh pasta, shaping raviolo recipe

Peas in food processor

Fresh pea, ricotta and parmesan cheese ravioli filling

Making homemade ravioli

Making homemade ravioli

Recipe for pea and ricotta ravioli with fresh mint pesto

 

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