RAVIOLI CON PERE E PECORINO. I love homemade ravioli, these little pockets of delight. Pear and cheese is a classic combination, but it’s not traditionally used on pasta. This recipe is a good example of Italian modern cuisine. For me this is defined by a few traditional ingredients of excellent quality used in a novel way and brief cooking to preserve flavors. The result is light, balanced and utterly delicious.
To obtain the right texture you need pears with firm smooth flesh, not the grainy and soft ones. Then you need seriously aged balsamic vinegar, I use 15 years old .
Recipe
For the ravioli:
- 250 gr./8 ounces fresh ricotta
- 1 pear
- 60 gr (2 ounces) grated Parmesan
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 recipe basic pasta dough
For the sauce:
- 60 gr (2 ounces) butter
- 30 gr (1 ounce) thin shavings of Parmesan or aged pecorino
- optional: 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar/person or best quality raw honey
Peel, slice and cut the pear in very small pieces, saute briefly in 1 teaspoon butter and cool. Add to the ricotta cheese, lemon zest and grated Parmesan.
Divide the pasta into balls of the size of a large egg. Using a pasta machine roll them out into long thin strips.
Put teaspoons of the pear and cheese filling about 5 cm (2 inches) apart on the sheet so that you can make a “parcel” by folding over the pasta sheet. Using a pasta cutter seal each parcel by cutting on three sides (the fourth is the fold). Dust a large tray or your worktop with flour and carefully place the ravioli on it taking care that they do not overlap.
Cook in salted boiling water until al dente, about 3 and 1/2 min. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the pasta and on how dry the ravioli are. Drain and toss ravioli with the remaining butter. Distribute onto 4 plates, top with Parmesan (or pecorino) shavings and drizzle with balsamic vinegar or honey.
To make vegetable ravioli, substitute pear with 500 gr./1 pound spinach leaves, blanched in boiling water, squeezed as dry as possible and very finely chopped. Another delicious alternative is to dice 3 medium zucchini and sautè in olive oil until just golden. Add one finely minced garlic clove and a few thorn basil leaves. Pulse chop in a food processor together with the ricotta and two tablespoons Parmesan until creamy.
Makes about 50 ravioli, serves 4.
ok let’s do it…. but after reading this, I need to eat first. mmmmm.
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All right, it’s a deal then. The new bestseller will be by us!
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Ok, YUMMMM! Need to try this one! xx
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Hi Megan, only with homemade ravioli. Mother in law will provide I guess?
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I love pear ravioli… will have to try the balsamic on them! YUM!!!
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Giulia the balsamic really makes the dish as it brings out the flavor of the pear and offsets the creaminess of the cheeses.
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My mouth is watering. When pears are in season, I will have to try this! (And you should use that photo for your book cover!)
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The photos are just stunning and what a great combination of ingredients. I want some now.
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Sandra! Would you please write the preface to the book?
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Absolutely — IF I’m paid in pear and pecorino ravioli!
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Sandra I can even add some tiramisu to the deal!
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I loved this recipe! I made it for my wife, and she raved about it. Thank you!
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thank you, I am alaways happy if someone can use my recipes!
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I really like this recipe!!! I made it fore frends and they loved it . Thank you soooo much !!. if is not a problem :- / can i ask fore one recipie i really love wild mushrooms Ravioli but i haven seen a really good one that convens me. Pleaseeee 😦
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I Celia, I am happy you like this recipe. If you look at my ravioli recipes they are all built the same way. You precook some vegetables, chop them finely, mix them with ricotta and a hard cheese, e.g. grated Parmesan or pecorino and use this mixture as a filling for ravioli. So for wild mushrooms I would saute the mushrooms on quite high heat, add some garlic and parsley at the end so the garlic does not brown, cool off and chop. Then proceed with the ricotta and Parmesan as explained for pears. Make sure to strain any cooking liquid from the mushrooms so to have a fairly dry filling. Use it with a little butter to dress the pasta once is cooked.
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Thank you!!! im going to make them this weekend 🙂
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please make sure to post pictures on FB!
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I so enjoyed cooking with you a couple of weeks ago, Letizia. Back in Seattle today and I am planning to make ravioli tonight. I have some leftover grilled asparagus and thought I would mix it with ricotta, mint, and a little Parmesan, then use the lemon sauce that we did with the zucchini ravioli. Can you remind me how to do the lemon sauce? I know it was simple. Any other tips or ideas?
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Hi Elizabeth, lovely to hear from you! The lemon sauce is here https://madonnadelpiatto.com/2009/05/02/fettuccine-al-limone/ . Grilled asparagus is always wonderful as a filling for ravioli but I would use the mint in teh sauce rather than in the filling to retain more flavor. Enjoy!
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