If you’re looking for a great, meat-free dinner, why try a delicious three-cheese ravioli? This is a dish that needs no real introduction due to its massive popularity not only in Italy but the world over. For our recipe we filled our ravioli with a delicious combination of ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarellacheese. Just a few herbs rounded out the filling to make it perfect. Immediately after we tossed our pasta with our homemade marinara sauce. Keep reading below for this great recipe…
Three Cheese Ravioli
(makes 4 servings)
Ingredients
RAVIOLI FILLING
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese well trained
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup mozarella cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
- 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
RAVIOLI DOUGH
- 5 egg yolks
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- a pinch of turmeric
- 1 whole egg
MARINARA SAUCE
- 2 28oz cans whole tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Directions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ingredients for the cheese filling. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- To make the dough, mix together the flour, salt, and turmeric in a mixing bowl. Add the egg yolks and mix it all together by hand, working until it all comes together and you have a ball of dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Cover with a mixing bowl and let rest for about 20 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, prepare the marinara sauce. Pour the tomatoes and juice into a strainer set over a large bowl. Use your hands to squeeze and burst the tomatoes and discard the fibrous cores. Let the tomatoes drain their excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup of tomatoes from the strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard the remainder.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around the edges (6 to 8 minutes). Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Add tomatoes from the strainer and increase the temperature to medium-high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes begin to stick to the bottom of the pan (10 to 12 minutes). Add the wine and cook until thick and syrupy (about 1 minute). Add the reserved tomato juice and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening the browned bits, until the sauce it thick (8 to 10 minutes).
- Transfer the sauce to a food processor or blender and add the reserved tomatoes. Process until slightly chunky. Return the sauce to the skillet and add the basil, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Keep on warm, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the rest of the meal.
- Divide the dough in half and roll out the first half onto the floured work surface wit ha rolling pin, making sure to add more flour as needed. You’ll want the dough to be very thin. Cut circles or squares from the dough with a cutter and lay the shapes aside. Continue until all the dough is used. Add the scraps to the second half of the dough, knead the scraps and second portion of dough together and repeat the rolling and cutting process until there is no more dough.
- In the center of half the cut out shapes, place about a teaspoon or two of filling. In a small bowl, beat together the remaining egg with about 1 teaspoon of water to create an egg wash. Brush the edges of the cut out shapes with the egg wash, then top with the other shape and press down to form a seal, working to try and squeeze out as much air as possible from between the dough and the filling.
- Boil a large pot of water, then add the ravioli to the boiling pot. Add the ravioli and boil for 5-7 minutes. Remove the ravioli, drain, then toss with the marinara sauce.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from10 Buck Dinners