Ahh…ravioli, a labour of love filled with mushroomy goodness accented with a bit of prosciutto, finished with a butter-prosciutto sauce and a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Makes Approximately 36 Ravioli
One 3 egg batch of homemade pasta dough (see below)
For The Filling:
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
¾ lb. Cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
2 oz. prosciutto, minced
2 Tbsp. minced shallots
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup whipping cream (or for an extra bit of deliciousness,
substitute 2 Tbsp. each ricotta & mascarpone cheeses for the cream)
3 Tbsp. Marsala wine
Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. cold water
Salt for cooking the ravioli
For the Sauce:
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup minced prosciutto
3 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
¼ cup freshly chopped Italian parsley
Make the Filling:
Melt the butter in a heavy large skillet over high heat; add the mushrooms, prosciutto, shallots and pepper. Cook until almost no liquid remains in the pan, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes; add cream & Marsala and boil until almost no liquid remains.
Note: If using ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, add the Marsala to the mushroom mixture, boil until almost no liquid remains, remove pan from heat, cool for a few minutes; stir in the cheeses.
Season the mixture with salt; cool completely. The filling can be made the day before, cooled and refrigerated until approximately 1 hour before using.
The pasta dough should be rolled out, according to the instructions, to #6 or #7 depending on your pasta machine. It should be thin. I use a ravioli form with press to make them; it works very well so long as the form is floured well and you roll over the filled ravioli with a rolling pin, using a firm hand. Here’s a link on how to roll out and form the dough to see how it is done.
Once you have laid a sheet of rolled out pasta dough over the form and used the press to create the “wells” for the filling; place tablespoons of filling in them so they are full to the top. Brush the sides and ends & between each ravioli with egg wash; place a second piece of rolled out dough on top, press down lightly, then, roll over the filled ravioli with a rolling pin so that the ravioli separate from each other.
Place the prepared ravioli on a floured rimmed baking sheet; continuing with the remaining dough in the same manner. I find it easier to roll out the sheets as I go because you don’t want the sheets to dry out at all.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add 1 – 2 Tbsp. salt.
Meanwhile Make the Sauce:
Melt the butter in shall heavy saucepan over medium heat; add prosciutto and stir 1 minute; keep warm until ready to serve the ravioli
Add the ravioli to the pot of boiling salted water and boil for 5 – 6 minutes; remove using a spider or slotted spoon to individual warm serving bowls. You may need to cook the ravioli in two batches; if so, place a couple of tablespoons of the butter from the sauce into the bottom of a warm platter; remove the ravioli to the platter and spoon some of the butter over them so they don’t stick together; keep warm while cooking the remaining ravioli.
