Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli in a Gorgonzola and Spinach Sauce

| By: Sonya Vijayvargiya|

Delve into authentic Italian culture, activities, and food during quarantine as you hand knead, roll, and cut each ravioli. This process is more than just cooking; rather, it is an experience that strengthens bonds and relationships as you all work together to prepare this dish. The recipe’s simplicity shocks you as you taste the final product, which emphasizes the fluffiness and softness of each ravioli. The pasta’s ricotta, parmesan, and spinach filling melts in your mouth, and is open to modification by the chef.

Creamy, thick gorgonzola mixed together with parmesan, flavorful spices, and white wine provides a rich and smooth flavor to the taste buds. The added spinach furnishes a soothing, subtle texture to this otherwise soft sauce. This sauce is the perfect home-made illusion of that, made by an authentic Italian restaurant, perfect for a quarantine recipe.

Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings

Prep & Cooking time: 1.5 hours for ravioli; 20 minutes for sauce

Pasta dough:

• 1 ¼ cup flour

• 1 egg

• ¼ cup warm water

• A pinch of salt

Ravioli filling:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 ¼ cups fresh spinach

• ½ cup parmesan cheese

• ¾ cup ricotta cheese

• A pinch of salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Gorgonzola and spinach sauce:

• ¾ cup chicken broth

• ½ cup white wine

• 2 cups gorgonzola cheese

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 2 teaspoons black pepper

• 1 cup fresh spinach

• ⅓ cup parmesan cheese, shredded

• 1 tablespoon chopped chives

Cooking Instructions

To make the pasta dough:

1. Combine the salt with flour and the egg with water into two separate bowls

2. Incrementally add the flour into the egg mixture while stirring (refrain from adding too much flour at once to prevent it from clumping)

3. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until the dough adopts a firm shape and is not sticking to surfaces and your hands anymore

4. Put the dough in a bowl and cover this bowl with saran wrap at room temperature for 1 hour

To make the ravioli filling:

1. Chop the spinach into smaller pieces

2. Cook spinach in olive oil at moderate heat in a closed pan for 15 minutes, stirring frequently

3. Cook spinach for 5 more minutes in an open pan to solidify the spinach

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the cooked spinach, parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese

5. Add salt and black pepper

To make the ravioli:

1. Divide the pasta dough into two smaller pieces

2. Roll out the dough so it is very thin, about the depth of paper

3. Cut the dough into 3x3 inch squares

4. Add a teaspoon of the filling to each square

5. Brush the edges of each square with a little bit of water

6. Fold over each square and push down the edges around the filling with a fork

7. Place each ravioli on a floured plate to prevent it from sticking to the surface

8. To make the gorgonzola and spinach sauce:

9. In a medium-heated pan, mix the chicken broth and white wine for 10 minutes

10. On low heat, add the butter, cream, and gorgonzola cheese and cook for 5 minutes

11. Add the black pepper, salt, spinach, chives and parmesan, and mix well for about 1 minute

Notes

Hard to find ingredients:

• Ricotta cheese and gorgonzola cheese can be found at Whole Foods Market

Modifications to the original recipe:

• 1 teaspoon black pepper was added to the ravioli filling to enhance taste

• 2 teaspoons salt and pepper were added to the gorgonzola sauce, rather than the recipe’s order of 1 teaspoon, to enhance taste

• Chives were substituted for the original recipe’s listing of parsley, because of its lack of availability during the pandemic

• While preparing the ravioli filling, the spinach was chopped into smaller pieces before cooking, rather than after (as the recipe suggests), because of the difficulty in chopping cooked spinach, as explained by my mom

• While preparing the ravioli, the edges of the dough squares were brushed with water to enhance the stickiness of the edges and prevent the ravioli from falling apart, a technique that my mom uses

• The original recipe for the gorgonzola sauce uses broccoli instead of spinach. Spinach was substituted as a personal preference

Alternative ingredients:

• Vegetable broth can be substituted for chicken broth in preparing the gorgonzola sauce

• Salt and black pepper can be accompanied by other ingredients of the chef’s choice, including red chili pepper, etc…

• Kale or broccoli can be substituted for spinach in the gorgonzola sauce

Storage suggestions:

• The pasta dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or stored in the freezer for up to 4 weeks. The pasta dough must be sealed air-tight in saran wrap

• The ravioli filling can be stored for up to 3 days in the refrigerator

• The gorgonzola sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week