These days when I make homemade pasta, we often make these Mint Lemon Ravioli. Mint is surprising here, as basil would have been my go-to herb for Italian dishes. The mint is delicate and summery, and pairs well with the lemon. This is a recipe of flexible quantities. Adjust amounts by tasting along the way.
Ingredients
- 5 eggs
- 5-6 cups flour
- 200 g ricotta
- 1-2 lemons, zest and juice
- 1 large bunch chopped fresh mint
- parmesan
- black pepper
- salt
- 3 tablespoons butter
Garnishes
- parmesan
- mint leaves
Instructions
For the Pasta Dough
- To make pasta dough the traditional way, arrange the flour on a board or counter in a mound with a sunken middle. Break the eggs into the center, then use a fork to whisk the eggs. Carefully incorporate small amounts of flour as you whisk, being careful to not leg the egg mixture spill out of the sunken center. Eventually you will form a dough. Alternatively, you could use a stand mixer to mix the eggs and flour.
- Once it has formed a dough, knead on a board several minutes until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.
- Use a pasta machine to roll out small portions of the dough into sheets. We use the pasta maker attachment on the KitchenAid mixer, but you could easily use a manual pasta machine. Dust with flour as you go. Lay out the pasta sheets to rest.
For the Filling
- Combine the ricotta with zest of a lemon plus a few tablespoons lemon juice.
- Chop half of the mint. Add it to the filling, as well as the parmesan, salt, and pepper. Taste for salt and lemon juice.
For the Ravioli
- Place 1 teaspoon of filling on the sheet of pasta. Move along the sheet, continuing to add a teaspoon of filling about 3 fingers apart.
- Use a small bowl of water and a pastry brush to paint lines of water along the pasta sheet in between the filling. This will help the dough layers stick to each other.
- Place a second sheet of pasta on top of the first sheet. Use your fingers to press down around the filling to remove any air pockets. Press the top sheet to the bottom. If you have a zigzag pasta wheel use it to cut ravioli squares. Use a fork to press down the edges of the ravioli.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the ravioli in small batches. They will only cook roughly 3 minutes, until they become more pale in color.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter in a deep skillet. Add the remaining mint leaves (saving a few leaves for the garnish) and a few tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the ravioli from the boiling water and place directly in the skillet. Stir into the lemony melted butter. Add some of the salted pasta water to create a sauce.
- Continue boiling batches of ravioli and adding them to the skillet. When you have cooked all of the ravioli, taste the sauce for lemon and salt. You may add more pasta water for consistency.
- To serve, grate a generous amount of parmesan on top. Arrange a few mint leaves.