A recipe for a spinach and potato ravioli from the South Tyrol, which is served with an unusual juniper sauce.
Ravioli sud Tirolesi
This delicious ravioli comes from the South Tyrol, on the Italian border with Austria. It’s a ravioli of spinach and potato dough, topped with juniper cream and shallot sauces. The recipe appears here (with permission) from The Vegeterranean, by Malu Simoes and Alberto Musacchio (pub. Simon and Schuster), RRP £25), the Italian vegetarian gourmet cookbook.
Ravioli Sud Tirolesi - Recipe
Ingredients - Serves 5
For the Filling
- 150 g (5 oz) champignon and dry porcini mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, gently smashed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
For The Shallot Sauce
- 3 shallots
- 75 ml (2 1/2 fl oz) olive oil
For the Juniper Cream Sauce
- 330 ml (11 fl oz) vegetable stock
- 5 juniper berries, crushed
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 210 ml (7 oz) single cream
For the Dough
- 2 yellow potatoes
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 75 g (2 1/2 oz) spinach, cooked and chopped
- 1 small egg, lightly beaten
- Dash of nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 87 g (3 oz) Grano Duro (Durum wheat) flour
Method
Filling
- Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in a small saucepan filled with hot water for 30 minutes. Drain through a colander.
- Sauté the garlic in the oil over a high heat. When it begins to colour, add all the mushrooms and cook until golden brown and the liquid has evaporated.
- Season with salt and pepper and cool before adding the parsley and Parmesan. Set aside.
Shallot Sauce
- With a mandolin, slice the shallots into thin rings.
- Caramelise in the oil over a low heat for 30 minutes or until dark and tender. Cover and set aside.
Juniper Cream Sauce
- Bring 125 ml (4 fl oz) of stock and juniper berries to a boil to infuse for five minutes. Pass the stock through a sieve, discard the berries and add the infused stock to the regular stock. Heat to a simmer.
- Mix the cornflour with the cream and pour into the hot stock, whisking all the time. Continue whisking until the sauce comes to a simmer once more and cook for 1 more minute. Cover and set aside.
Dough
- Boil and peel the potatoes. Mash with the butter while still hot. Cover and cool to room temperature. Place on a floured surface, add the finely chopped spinach and incorporate well. Add the egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Work the dough with a spatula to combine. Add the flour in three batches, incorporating well after each addition. Add more flour if the dough is still too sticky.
- Sprinkle the working surface with Grano Duro flour and roll a third of the dough into a large disc 2 mm (1/8 inch) in thickness. Cut out as many circles as possible using a 5 cm (2 inch) round cutter.
- Place 1/2 teaspoon of filling in the centre of each disc and close gently into a crescent shape. Seal by pressing lightly with your fingertips, leaving imprints. Continue with the remaining dough, reusing the scraps as well, until either the dough or the filling run out.
- Place the pieces, not touching, on a floured tray.
To Serve
- Reheat both the shallot and cream sauce, separately. Boil a pot of lightly salted water and reduce to a simmer. Gently add half the pasta to the water.
- When the ravioli rise to the surface, use a slotted spoon to transfer six pieces to each plate. Ladle over the cream sauce. Dot with shallots and shallot infused oil. Repeat with the remaining pasta.
- Sprinkle with freshly ground white pepper and serve.
Read the Vegeterranean's recipe for Pizzoccheri.
The copyright of the article Ravioli with Juniper Sauce in Regional Italian Specialties is owned by Rebecca Ford. Permission to republish Ravioli with Juniper Sauce in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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