Pasta Dinner Date Night!
Nothing says, “I love you” more than a homemade fresh pasta dinner. Try this delicious and absolutely easy stuffed pasta for your next date night.
Ingredients
Filling
160g Ricotta Cheese
40g Mozzarella
25g Parmesan
20g Romano
70g Goat Cheese
105g Cream Cheese
Several Cloves, Smashed, Garlic
Large Pinch, Salt
Pepper to Taste
1 tbsp Parsley
Pasta Dough
145g All-Purpose Flour
240g Cake Flour
4 Egg Yolks
55g Olive Oil
Large Pinch, Salt
Approximately 105g Water
Sauce
115g Unsalted Butter
3 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
5-10 Sage Leaves, Variety of Sizes
57g Frozen Peas
Up to 8oz Pasta Water
Grated Parmesan
Tools
Tips
Make the filled pasta ahead of time! This can easily turn into an all day affair, so save yourself some trouble and freeze batches of this stuff well in advance.
Want an easy red sauce for this filled pasta instead? Blitz a can of San Marzano tomatoes with some garlic and basil. Salt to taste and let heat through and cook on the stove. Add your filled pasta and a little bit of your pasta water for an easy and delicious alternative.
Method
In a food processor, combine and blitz 145g all-purpose flour, 240g cake flour, a large pinch of kosher salt, 4 egg yolks, and 55g of olive oil.
Once combined, slowly add approximately 105g water to the mixture while the food processor is mixing.
Continue to blitz in the food processor until a smooth dough forms.
Remove the dough and knead together on a lightly floured work surface.
After the dough has come together and is smooth, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until use. Now, begin the filling.
Add 160g ricotta, 40g mozzarella, 25g parmesan, 20g Romano, 70g goat cheese, 105g cream cheese, several cloves of smashed garlic, a large pinch of kosher salt, 1 tbsp parsley, and your desired amount of freshly ground pepper to a mixing bowl. Combing until smooth.
Once the filling is smooth and creamy, spoon it into a piping bag (or zip-top bag, if you don’t have a piping bag handy) and refrigerate until you’re ready to fill your pasta.
Dividing your dough into several batches, roll thin with a pasta roller (keep unused dough wrapped in plastic to avoid it drying out). On the Kitchen Aide Mixer pasta roller attachment, I went to level 5 thickness. Follow your pasta roller’s instructions for proper use.
Drape the thin strip of dough across a ravioli mold, with enough hanging over the short end to fold back over the mold (this creates the bottom of your raviolis). You can also choose to use any filled pasta shape. Check back often for instructions on more handmade filled pastas.
Fill your ravioli (or filled pasta shape of your choice) and seal by dipping your finger into water and wetting the edges. Remove the raviolis from the mold, often by rolling over the mold with a rolling pin.
Let your pasta sit in the fridge until you are ready to cook. A lightly floured baking sheet is perfect for holding the pasta until you are ready to cook it. If cooking immediately, start the sauce.
For this recipe, we’re making Brown Butter Sage Sauce. Begin by adding 115g, or one stick, unsalted butter to a large skillet or frying pan. Let it melt and begin to brown.
Once the butter has browned (you’ll see little specks of brown bits forming in the butter, this is exactly what you want), add 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic and 5-10 sage leaves (do whatever feels right to you at the time). Allow to cook for several minutes.
Dump half of your filled pasta into salted boiling water for 60-90 seconds or until the pasta begins to float. If you are cooking the entire batch, you may need to increase the amounts of sauce ingredients. Otherwise, freeze the excess filled pasta (one day in the future, you’ll be glad you did this).
Remove the pasta from the water with a fine mesh strainer or fish spatula and add the pasta directly into the sauce.
Add approximately 57g of frozen peas to the pasta and sauce, as well as a small to medium amount of finely grated parmesan (I like to use a microplane).
Stir the sauce and filled pasta and then add up to 8oz of pasta water. Add the pasta water a little at a time while stirring. The addition of the pasta water will help to emulsify the brown butter sauce, making it creamy and delicious. If the sauce appears greasy, add a little more pasta water. If the sauce breaks, add a little more pasta water.
Serve your pasta dinner with a small amount of freshly grated or shaved parmesan and enjoy!