00:00Hello my name is Theo Randall from Theo Randall at the Intercontinental. Today
00:03I'm going to show you how to make ravioli.
00:10So first of all we're going to start with the filling. So the filling we have some spinach.
00:14Now you can do anything you want. You could use broccoli, you could use the classic chimo d'arrape
00:19which is the turnip tops, you could use Swiss chard. Anything kind of green and slightly robust
00:24that you can cook, blanch and then finely chop and mix in some ricotta and some
00:29Parmesan cheese. So we've just got spinach here, so I've left the stalks on the spinach
00:32so it's got a nice texture to it and I'm just going to finely chop the blanched spinach which
00:37I've squeezed out. Now it's important that you take out a lot of the water because if
00:42it's too wet the mixture will be too wet which will make the pasta soggy. So it's really important
00:46to make sure that you squeezed it out. Now I find if you blanch the spinach and you then
00:53put it into a colander and let it cool down to room temperature it's much better flavour
00:58than by putting it into ice cold water because when you put it in ice cold water it dilutes
01:02the flavour. So it takes a little bit longer but you get a much nicer result. So finely
01:06chop the spinach so it's really fine. You can leave a little bit of texture in there
01:10but it's quite nice if it's nicely finely chopped. And then we're going to add some ricotta
01:14cheese and we're going to add some Parmesan and some salt and pepper. So very very simple
01:20filling. Okay so we put the chopped spinach into a bowl then we're going to add our ricotta
01:26cheese so just lovely fresh ricotta. Mix that in together with the spinach and then we're
01:36going to add some Parmesan, a nice amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Some salt
01:42and pepper, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Make sure it's quite well seasoned
01:48because it's going to be blanched in the pasta so the filling has to be really quite strong.
01:53Just mix the spinach and the ricotta and the Parmesan. Using a teaspoon we're going to put
02:00the filling. Now the temptation is to make really large balls of filling. Make them very
02:04very quite smallish because if they're too big when you push the pasta together it's all
02:08going to come out the side. So it's very important. One there's a gap and two it's very very clean
02:11in between each ravioli. Otherwise what will happen is the filling will get stuck in between
02:16the two sheets of pasta so when it cooks it will open up. Now if you're doing this on a larger scale
02:22or professional level you can use a piping bag but I'm just using a teaspoon because we are cooking
02:26at home. Portions of filling with a decent gap and take at least two fingers in between each
02:31gap. Then what we're going to do is we're just going to get some water and we're going to run some cold water
02:37pasta over each part of the pasta dough. So basically acts like a sealant so like almost
02:43like a glue. So just some water, just cold water, pastry brush then rub that in between. Not too much
02:49don't make it too wet but just enough so it gives a bit of moisture and then along the bottom of each
02:54bit of pasta and then we just fold the pasta over. Just fold this over the top. Pasta's just nice
03:00slightly moist because I put that tea towel on top which kept it nice and juicy. If you don't do that
03:04what'll happen is when you fold it over the pasta will break and crack and that is a disaster. So
03:10fold this over, push down sort of pushing it almost towards you but making sure that that bit of dough
03:16is not sticking to the other piece of dough yet. And then using your two little fingers just push
03:22down and what we're trying to do now is get rid of all of the air. There's no air in between the
03:27little pasta parcel because if there's air and you pop it into the water what'll happen is the air
03:33expand and explode. You'll end up with some horrible ravioli. That's all sealed and then using the cup of your hand
03:41over the ravioli and push down and that will release all of the air. So push down and then just keep pushing down so all that
03:48air comes out and you end up with lovely sealed raviolis. Again this as well and then we're going to get our
03:54cutter and cut the ravioli. Now if you've got on the zigzag one even better but I've just got a straight sided one here and then just cut along. Make sure that you've got those bits of pasta.
04:01Sealed nicely this side as well. Getting rid of the little trimmings of pasta and then just cut the pasta and take off the surface and then once you've done that just go through the ravioli and make sure that all the edges are sealed by literally picking up each one and then just press so it's all sealed. It's definitely worth doing this because if you don't then you might get a little hole in there. A little bit of semiline flour on the bottom just to make sure it doesn't stick and then we're actually going to put this onto a tray and pop it in the fridge. Now the temptation
04:31anything goes in the fridge is to cover it with cling film. If you cover it with cling film what will happen is the pasta will remain really soggy. You want the pasta to almost dry out and the fridge is brilliant because
04:40it'll evaporate the moisture. Squeezing each edge and making sure that filling is nice and tight inside and then once you've done that put it straight in the fridge.
04:51Okay so the pasta's been in the fridge for about 20 minutes so it's got a slight dryness to it so that when you cook it'll have a lovely al dente bite.
05:01Now if you have any leftover bits of pasta like here the best thing to do is just scrunch them up and then put them through the pasta machine again and make some tagliatelle or tagliarini.
05:10If they're a bit dry put them in the food processor with a little bit of water and then just give it a quick blitz and then wrap it in cling film and use it another time.
05:17But a good kitchen is a frugal kitchen so use up every scrap of pasta you have left over.
05:22I'm going to now cook the ravioli.
05:24So just put the ravioli in one by one in simmering water, not fast boil, just simmering water for three to four minutes and then take the pasta out and put them into a pan with some butter and some sage and a ladle of the pasta water.
05:40Move the pasta and the pan together so it emulsifies.
05:44So the ravioli is really nice and emulsified.
05:46It's got the lovely kind of juice from the pasta water and the butter and the sage.
05:50So we're just going to plate up, nice, generous, large ravioli.
05:55So the sage is just soft, it's not fried, it's just kind of soft and it has a nice lovely sort of flavour to it.
06:01It's really made the buttery sauce that goes with it.
06:05And then serve with some parmesan cheese and some black pepper.
06:08Very simple, very delicious ravioli.
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