Any home-made ravioli is a bit of a faff to make, but the end results are worth it. Serves two.
300g Tipo '00' Italian flour
3 medium eggs
Half an onion
2 tbsps olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 punnet portobello or chestnut mushrooms
40g dried porcini mushrooms
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsps creme fraiche, ricotta or even natural yoghurt
15-20 fresh sage leaves
Olive oil and/or butter
Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well and break the eggs into the well
Beat the eggs lightly with a fork until mixed
Slowly draw the flour into the egg with a wooden spoon
When the mixture becomes more of a sticky ball, continue incorporating flour with your hands until the ball is no longer sticky and has become reasonably firm, but not hard
Remove from the bowl and knead, like bread, for five or ten minutes. Ensure that the dough gets well stretched
Return to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a fridge to rest for an hour or two
When the dough is rested, remove from the fridge
Put the porcini mushrooms into a jug and cover with boiling water to soak
Finely chop the onion with a mezzaluna
Fry the chopped onion gently in the olive oil until soft, ensuring that they do not burn
Add the minced garlic and fry for another minute
Drain the porcini and chop finely, add to the pan
Finley chop the fresh mushrooms with a mezzaluna and put in with the onion and porcini mixture
Continue to fry until the fresh mushrooms have reduced and are starting to dry out
Add the thyme and parsely, mix briefly
Add the flour and mix well
Add the creme fraiche or ricotta and remove from the heat
Mix well and set aside to cool
Meanwhile, roll the pasta dough into a sausage shape, about 6-7cm wide
Slice into 3cm rounds, flatten and roll progressively through a pasta machine down to the last-but-one thickness, aiming for long wide sheets
Flour a work surface and lay out a sheet of pasta
Fold in half, crease, then unfold
Dot teaspoons of the cooled mushroom mixture on the half of the pasta sheet, spacing out depending upon whether you want small or large ravioli (adapt the amount of filling to suit). Aim to lay the filling out in a grid pattern with lots of space between
Brush the same side of pasta all over with water, working around the filling
Starting from the crease, bring the two sheets of pasta together over the filling, working away from the crease end and pressing together as you go. Pay particular attention as you press around the filling, ensuring there are no trapped air bubbles
Double check all the pasta is stuck together, then using a crimped cutter slice across and then lengthways to create each raviolo, neatly crimped on all four edges and with a good amount of pasta surrounding the filling
Lay out on a drying rack and continue with the next sheet, until you've run out of pasta or filling
Leave the ravioli to dry for at least an hour, preferably more
Cook in lots of well-salted boiling water for around eight to ten minutes - the ravioli should be slightly al-dente (firm to the bite)
A few minutes before the pasta is ready, slice the sage leaves into 1cm-wide strips and fry in olive oil and butter - ensure that the oil/butter mixture isn't too hot as both the butter and sage can burn easily
Drain the ravioli and toss gently in the sage/butter mixture
Serve in warmed deep plates or shallow dishes. Ganish with freshly-grated pepper, grated Grano Padana or Parmigiano, and some chopped parsley