A childhood favourite - Ravioli, Episode 2.4

Growing up, food was more than just sustenance - it was all about family. And no other family favourite illustrated this better than Ravioli. We would all have our set tasks - dad made the pastry and the sauce, me the filling, my brother brushed the rolled pasta with milk, mum's job was  the cooking.

It took all day and we would make around 40 dozen. Those not eaten on the day, would be frozen, uncooked, for another day. Freeze them on the trays first so that they don't get damaged. This reduces them breaking up when cooking at a later date. Any left overs that had been cooked were deep fried the next day for a snack, Yum!

Traditional Maltese ravioli pasta is made by rubbing lard into the flour and then adding water to make a dough. It has no eggs, and this produces a fairly heavy pasta, white in colour. When I was first diagnosed with Coeliac's disease I thought that converting my traditional recipes to gluten free, was just a matter of substitution of gf plain flour for wheat based plain flour. WRONG!! and in fact my first attempt at gf ravioli turned into quite a disaster, with the traditional Maltese pasta dissolving into glue as the ravioli cooked. A very disappointed Rie that day!

So after many tries to perfect gf fresh pasta, here is my recipe for gf pasta. It is perfect for lasagne,  or fettucine. My favourite though, will always be ravioli, especially when using homemade ricotta cheese. To see how it is made, check out my YouTube video after the recipe.

Ravioli
Pastry:
• 250g GF plain flour
• 50g potato flour
• 1 tbl oil
• 4 free range eggs

Filling:
• 300g ricotta cheese
• 2 large free range eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 bunches flat leafed parsley chopped finely

• Milk

Sauce:
• 400 g tin crushed tomatoes (or 3-4 tbl tomato paste)
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic - crushed
• chopped fresh oregano

Combine flours.
Tip flours onto the bench and make a well
Add oil and first 2 eggs.
Knead together, adding additional eggs one at a time as necessary.
Knead until smooth.

Combine flours in a bowl. 

Tip flours onto a clean bench and make a well.

Add oil and first 2 eggs into the well. Using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs to form a paste and then the dough.Knead together, adding additional eggs one at a time as necessary.

Knead until smooth.

Allow dough to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Place ricotta into a large bowl and break up using a potato masher.

Add salt, pepper and parsley. Mix well.

Add 2 eggs lightly beaten and mix well.

The masher should make a slurp sound when lifted from the ricotta. If it doesn't, add another egg and mix well.

Divide the pastry into 4 pieces. Keep those not being used under a damp towel so as not to dry out. Roll out pastry into long strip at least 8 cm wide and 3-4 mm thick.

Using a teaspoon, place heaped spoonfuls of filling in the bottom third of the pastry approx. 4 cm (width of two fingers) space in between.

Using a pastry brush, paint milk around each spoonful of filling.

Fold pastry over to enclose filling.

Using cupped hands press around each blob of filling to seal edges.

Using a glass, cut each ravioli out and place on a floured tray until ready to cook. Keep covered with a moist tea-towel so as not to dry out.

You can reuse scraps of pastry and re-roll.

Sauce:

Gently fry the onion and garlic until translucent.

Add tinned tomatoes and oregano, stir well and simmer for 10 minutes.

Place ravioli into a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil for 6-8 minutes until cooked (They will be floating in the water).

Serve with sauce and grated parmesan cheese.

updated March 2023