Essential · 1 h 45 min, plus 2 h of draining the ricotta · Serves 4
Ricotta, spinach and egg yolk raviolone with sage butter
The same root as the Signature raviolone of the family, Nino Bergese's classic: a large fresh pasta raviolone with a crown of ricotta and spinach and a yolk that stays liquid after cooking, with butter, sage and cheese. This version leaves the idea intact and strips everything else: simple dough, spooned filling and a golden butter.
The twist is to organize so the yolk arrives liquid. The filling is built as a crown with a spoon, leaving a deep hollow, the pasta is closed pushing out all the air and the raviolone is cooked at a gentle boil for exactly three minutes. When cut at the table, the yolk spills over the butter.
Special equipment: pasta machine or rolling pin; 11–12 cm cutter or plate; wide slotted spoon
Ingredients
Fresh dough
- 200 g 00 flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch of fine salt
Ricotta and spinach filling
- 250 g ricotta, drained 2 hours
- 200 g fresh spinach
- 50 g grated Parmesan-style cheese
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- Fine salt and black pepper
Yolks
- 4 very fresh eggs, or pasteurized eggs
Shaping and cooking
- Semolina or flour, for the tray
- Plenty of salted water
Sage butter
- 80 g butter
- 8 fresh sage leaves
- 40 ml cooking water
Finishing
- Grated Parmesan-style cheese
- Black pepper
Method
Fresh dough
- Kneading. Make a well with the flour and salt, put the eggs in the center and combine with a fork. Knead 8–10 minutes, to a smooth, elastic dough. Wrap in plastic film and rest 30 minutes.
Ricotta and spinach filling
- Spinach. Blanch the spinach 30 seconds in boiling water, cool it in ice water, squeeze it with your hands until it stops dripping and chop it fine.
- Mixing. Mix the ricotta with the spinach, cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. It should be firm and dry, holding by itself on the spoon.
Yolks
- Separating. Right before assembling, carefully separate the yolks, one at a time into a small cup, without breaking the membrane. The whites are not used.
Shaping and cooking
- Rolling. Divide the dough in two and roll each half to 1 mm, in sheets of at least 12 × 48 cm. Mark on one of them 4 circles of 11 cm with the cutter, without cutting through.
- Assembly. With a spoon, form in each circle a crown of filling of about 60 g, 2 cm tall, leaving a hollow in the center. Slide a yolk into each hollow. Lightly brush with water around, cover with the other sheet and press from the filling outward to push out all the air. Cut with the cutter or with a knife around a plate and set on semolina.
- Cooking. Boil plenty of salted water in a wide pot and lower the heat to a gentle boil. Slide the raviolone in two at a time with the slotted spoon and cook 3 minutes. Lift them out with the slotted spoon and drain on a kitchen towel for a moment.
Sage butter
- Browning. While they cook, heat the butter over medium heat until it foams and takes on a hazelnut color, add the sage 20 seconds and then the cooking water, moving the pan to emulsify. Remove from the heat.
Finishing
- At serving. Have the grated cheese and pepper ready.
The dish
Use hot flat or low deep plates. Set one raviolone in the center of each plate and coat it with the sage butter, laying two leaves on top. Finish with grated cheese and pepper, and serve at once, so the diner cuts it and releases the yolk. Final look: a large, pale, glossy raviolone, the golden butter with the dark sage leaves and the cheese.
Key points
- Squeeze the spinach very well: a wet filling opens the raviolone.
- Leave the hollow of the crown deep so the yolk does not touch the top.
- Push out all the air when closing.
- Cook at a gentle boil, exactly three minutes.
- Serve at once, before the yolk keeps cooking from the heat.
Pairing
A Chardonnay with good acidity or a brut sparkling wine. Without alcohol, sparkling water with lemon.
Notes
- Liquid yolk: the yolk is only lightly cooked. For pregnant women, small children, the elderly or the immunocompromised, use pasteurized eggs.