Monday, April 9, 2012

Lemon and Goat's Cheese Ravioli

I remember the day Wednesday June 2, 2010 like it was yesterday. Ok, that might be stretching the truth, but I do remember the day the video of Yotam Ottolenghi making this ravioli was posted on the The Guardian site. I just looked it up, and that day was June 2, 2010. I remember watching that video and thinking that I couldn't wait to make this. It was a few months later when I acquired a copy of the book Plenty, where the recipe also appears, and then I couldn't wait to make everything else in the book too. In the video, Ottolenghi calls the ravioli "little sunshines on the plate." And, they are. The lemony pasta with zest mixed into the dough, the fresh and tangy goat cheese filling, and the pop of pink and mildly spicy flavor from the peppercorns make the ravioli bright and springy. As I always say, making fresh pasta is one of my favorite kitchen tasks, and this time was no different.

Since making pasta is one of my favorite things, of course, I have my preferred way of doing it. I never used a food processor, and I never make a well out of a pile of flour on a work surface. I put the flour in a bowl, make a hole in the center, add the eggs, and mix with a fork. That way, I don't have egg running all over my counter, but I can feel the dough and decide if it needs more flour or not. For this pasta, the dry ingredients included flour, a little turmeric for added yellow in the dough, and lemon zest. Three whole eggs were added with three tablespoons of olive oil. The dough came together nicely, and it was divided into four pieces, each piece was flattened into a disk, wrapped in plastic wrap, and chilled for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the filling was made by mixing together soft goat cheese, some sea salt, crushed red chile flakes, and black pepper. After the pasta dough had rested, one piece at a time was passed through a pasta machine several times while setting the rollers closer together after each pass. To streamline the process of filling and cutting the ravioli, I left half of each long piece of pasta dough intact. That half was brushed with egg wash and topped with dollops of goat cheese filling. The other half of each sheet was cut into circles about three inches wide. The circles were set over each dollop of filling, and then the cutter was used to separate each piece. Once cut, the edges of each were pinched to seal. You can cook the ravioli right away or cover and refrigerate them overnight. After boiling for a brief couple of minutes and draining, the ravioli were topped with crushed pink peppercorns, chopped parsley rather than tarragon in my case, more lemon zest and lemon juice, and some olive oil.

Each part of this dish is simple but just right. Pasta is plain by nature, but here it gets a boost from lemon zest. The filling was just a few ingredients added to goat cheese, and the toppings couldn't have been easier to add to each plate. But, all those simple parts resulted in something as fabulous as I knew it would be when I first saw the video.


28 comments:

  1. Yuuum Lisa! This looks fantastic. My favourite combo lemon and goats cheese too! I make a similar ravioli but use ricotta.

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  2. This looks wonderful! I hope you had a good Easter!

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  3. Beautifully done. I have yet to make fresh pasta or utilize goat cheese in my cooking (I tend to just eat it straight up with crackers) I love how fresh and clean all the flavours seems to be in this recipe

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  4. Gor...Ge...Ous Lisa! I haven't made fresh pasta in ages YOU have inspired me!

    Thanks for sharing, Lisa...

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  5. Love, love the flavor combination! I need to make these soon. Pinning now. Have a great week!

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  6. This looks as amazing as anything out of Mario Batali's kitchen. Totally scrumptious!

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  7. The use of citrus definitely balances the goat cheese. YUM!

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  8. Divine looking and sounding!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  9. What a beautiful looking ravioli. So perfect and pretty looking. What a treat to eat! xx

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  10. Love lemon and goat cheese. Perfect combination. Beautiful photos, too... almost like confetti, celebrating!

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  11. I have this recipe bookmarked in his book, but haven't had the energy to make pasta from scratch in a long time - maybe over a year!

    I must make this soon, loved the "confetti" look of your plate, such gorgeous presentation!

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  12. this looks so beautiful and sounds so delicious! definitely want to try this soon, sounds perfect for spring!

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  13. Thank you so much for linking to that video! I hadn't seen it before and if I didn't have a crush on him before... Anyway, you did a lovely job with such a simple dish. I need your assistance with making pasta - I find it intimidating and just need to get over it!

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  14. I always say I'm going to get around to making pasta but apparently I'm not, since I just gave away our old pasta roller. At least I won't be getting around to it before I purchase the KitchenAid attachment, anyways. I'll just enjoy yours vicariously. It looks and sounds fabulous! Of course, how could an Ottolenghi recipe not be great?

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  15. Love PLENTY too! These ravioli look divine.

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  16. They do look very beautiful and must be very tasty as well. I always make mine with halloumi and mint but these would be a lovely alternative.

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  17. How gorgeous is your ravioli! Perfect! I tried making it once and it was less than good. Now I am inspired! Beautiful work and my favorite flavors in a pasta dish!

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  18. I love lemon and goat cheese together. Making homemade ravioli is so much fun. This would be sophisticated enough to serve to guests, too!

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  19. I must admit that I never really made ravioli. Yours make me want to do it. Thanks Lisa!

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  20. Wow Lisa, homemade ravioli? You are amazing...love the filling paired with lemon sauce, sounds and looks delicious! Love the pictures as always :)
    Thanks for this flavorful recipe and hope you are having a great week!

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  21. I love raviolis.. have tried a few times but never got them so perfect to click.. this has given a boost again for the fresh attempt ;)

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  22. homemade ravioli always impresses me--i love your little hats! :)

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  23. OMG this looks SO good!! I love making pasta and this is really pretty.

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  24. This ravioli is exquisite - your photos and recipe are stunning my friend :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  25. These look beautiful and delicious!

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  26. Gorgeous little rays of sunshine. Now I'm craving a plateful.

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  27. That looks outstanding Lisa! You're making me hungry at 11:40PM!

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  28. Yum these sounds delicious!!

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