Creamy Dreamy Ravioli

I was recently watching Lidia's Family Table, my current Italian obsession television show on OPB. She made this pasta, and I had to make it right away. Lidia Bastianich has made a name for herself in the New York food scene by preparing authentic Italian fare in a way that is accessible to home cooks. The following ravioli recipe exalts in its simplicity. Ricotta, pasta, butter, and sage is all you need.

When I worked at clarklewis, they called this simple butter sauce creamy dreamy, and it truly is. The trick is to use pasta water, with all its wonderful starchy liquid, to emulsify the butter just prior to serving. You need a really good quality, heavy-bottomed pan to achieve the right level of heat to pull it off.

There's really no substitute for home made pasta, because it really is just as easy as using dried pasta. And it's better. You'll never go back.

1 recipe home made pasta, rolled into large sheets

1 16 oz. container whole milk ricotta

1 sprig fresh sage

1 egg

1 stick butter

extra virgin olive oil

grated Parmesano reggiano

salt and pepper

Add about a teaspoon of kosher salt to the ricotta and stir with a fork until combined. You could add some fresh herbs, chunks of fresh mozzarella, or anything to supplement the stuffing. Lay out one sheet of pasta, add generous tablespoons of cheese, spacing a few inches apart.

Paint a little egg wash along the edge and between the cheese. Crack some black pepper on filling and drizzle with a little olive oil. Cover with another sheet, and cut with pastry cutter to seal the seams. According to Lidia, don't push the air out of the ravioli, it helps make it floppy when you make the sauce and gives the ravioli nice crevices for the sauce to adhere to the pasta.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, season with 1/4 c. kosher salt per gallon. When the water is boiling, heat another heavy bottomed skillet to medium high. Add butter, swirling to melt, but don't let it brown. While the butter is melting, add the ravioli to the pasta water and stir.



When the butter is melted and beginning to bubble, add a ladleful or two of the pasta water, add sage, and turn heat to high. Let boil vigorously until the ravioli is just before al dente, about 90 seconds. Scoop ravioli out to skillet with a large spoon. It's okay if water comes with, it'll just help the sauce thicken more.



When all of the raviolis are in the skillet, vigorously shake pan back and forth to stir the sauce and allow to come up over edges of ravioli, about 30 seconds. Remove sage, add about 1/2 cup grated cheese and shake again. Remove ravioli to plates. Put sauce back on heat to thicken if needed, adding more pasta water if you want to loosen the sauce. You want it to be incorporated and silky, but not too watery. Ladle sauce over ravioli, crack some more pepper, season with salt and top with more cheese. YUM!