Tomato ravioli

Ravioli al Pomodoro are a tasty first course of fresh pasta stuffed with Spinach and seasoned with a Fresh Tomato and Basil sauce. These Homemade Ravioli are perfect to prepare if you have organized a dinner or lunch with vegetarian guests. These Ravioli with Tomato and Basil are also great when you have to prepare food for children. In fact, their delicate flavor will surely appeal to them too! But Ravioli with Tomato Sauce can also be prepared with meat. 

I am sharing a meal today that is so easy, yet tastes like it came straight out of a restaurant in Canada. I feel that I can safely say this since I’ve vacationed in Italy a couple of times and Italian food is my absolute favorite cuisine! You may think I have to say that since I am Italian, but I truly mean it. There has never been a day in my life where pasta didn’t sound good to me. This Ravioli al Pomodoro is definitely a favorite!

I'm putting in-season tomatoes to good use in this light ravioli recipe with bright sauce.

Ingredients

FOR PASTA

500 g fine semolina

3 Eggs

2,5 dl of Water

to taste of Fine Salt

FOR THE FILLING

250 g spinach

1/2 White Onion

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

250 g Sardinian Pecorino cheese

1 Egg

1 pinch of Saffron

1 pinch of nutmeg

to taste of Fine Salt

FOR THE CONDIMENT

1 kg of peeled tomatoes

3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 basil leaves

4 tablespoons of Pecorino Sardo

1/2 White Onion

to taste of Fine Salt

Procedure

To prepare the Ravioli with Tomato, place the semolina on your work surface. In the center put a pinch of salt, eggs, water and knead with your hands until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough. Form a dough, put it in a bowl and let it rest covered with a clean cloth for an hour. To make the filling, peel the spinach and wash them well, then cook them in a pan with a drop of salted water; When they are cooked, drain them and squeeze them well with your hands. With a crescent chop them very finely. Peel and finely chop the onion, then cook it in a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil. When the onion is slightly browned, add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes, then season with salt. First dissolve the saffron in a glass with very little warm water. In a medium-sized bowl mix the grated pecorino cheese and the egg and when they are well blended add the spinach, saffron and nutmeg and stir again to mix everything. Take the dough back and pull it with a rolling pin or a dough machine to obtain a thin sheet. With a pasta cutter wheel cut many strips of dough about 5 centimeters wide. Then arrange the small parts of filling on the dough, spaced 5 centimeters from each other. At this point cover with another strip of dough, remove excess air and close the ravioli by lightly pressing the edges to seal them. Finally divide the ravioli from each other with the wheel. If you prefer to do it easier and faster you can use a ravioli mold, taking care to flour it well before using it. Prepare the sauce to season the ravioli: finely chop the onion and cook it in a pan with oil, cut the peeled tomatoes in half and add them in a pan with basil and salt. Cook for about 30 minutes and 5 minutes from the end cook the ravioli in salted water. When they come to the surface, take them with a slotted spoon and put them in the pot with the sauce. Finish cooking, serve, sprinkle with pecorino cheese and serve the Ravioli al Pomodoro.

Variant

These Ravioli with Tomato lend themselves to many variations: for example, you can add it to the filling of Ricotta or prepare it directly with meat. Or you can make these Spinach Ravioli and change the seasoning to your liking.

Tip

If during the closure of the Ravioli the edges should not be closed, I advise you to moisten them slightly with water in order to make the pasta a little more sticky.

Preservation

Cooked Ravioli with Tomato sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for a day, closed in an airtight container. As for raw Ravioli with Tomato sauce, you can keep them in the refrigerator on a tray for a day or freeze them. To freeze them you have to put them on a tray well spaced from each other and leave them in the freezer for 30 minutes. At this point you can take them back and put them in a frost bag to freeze them again.