No pain no grain!

One of the beautiful things about living in the country  is that we  have many people who come to visit us . Friends and family directly from England or here in Italy. As I’ve said before here in the green hills of Umbria there is always work to be done , cut the grass ,prune the vineyard ext, ext.  As we say in Rome: “bisogna guadagnarsi la pagnotta”!, Meaning that you must work for the bread you eat. So, thankfully over the years are guests have all designated themselves small tasks to help out with the running of our  home.  There are those who arrive during the almonds and walnut season , so they can help with the collecting and cleaning of these, some people stay when the tomatoes are ready so they can help to pick and peel  for  bottled passata … .. there’s also the olive harvest and grape picking  ….anyway the list is long. A few days ago  my parents came to visit.  A job was  ready for them. My father began to fix the little gate of the cellar and my mother helped me to make ravioli. Nick worked too. In fact he decided to film  us making  ravioli! So for the first time Sagraincasa is on film ! The finished dish is what you see and  it was the prize or the “Pagnotta” for the work of all of us … … .. ravioli filled with ricotta and asparagus, topped with evo oil, pancetta and chopped asparagus. Not bad, I would say!

So if you want to see how we make ravioli …. here it is:

So now let’s start with what you need to make ravioli:

Ingredients serve 6

500 gr Flour (Try to get Tipo ‘00’ flour )

4 eggs

1 tablespoon of Evo oil

½ teaspoon salt

How it  works:

Place the flour on a board . Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Add olive oil and a pinch of salt. With a fork, first mix the ingredients in the hollow together and start to mix in the flour from the edge.

Gradually incorporate more of the flour until a viscous paste begins to form. Put the fork to one side and, using both hands, heap the remaining flour from the outside over the pasta in the middle. Work the flour in to the paste. If the paste does not absorb all the flour, and if the ingredients cannot be easily worked, add a little water.

Push out the dough with the heels of the hands, then form in into a ball again. Repeat this kneading action until the dough has a firm but slightly elastic consistency and no longer changes shape when you remove your hands.

By machine:

Put the strip of dough through the machine’s smooth rollers several times, narrowing the setting each time, until the desired thickness is achieved.

Start at 6 and finish at 3 for: Tagliolini, spaghetti, tonnarelli

Start at 6 and finish at 2 for: Ravioli, Pappardelle, Tagliatelle, Lasagna.

For the Ravioli filling:
500 grams of asparagus
200 grams of ricotta
½ teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper
How it work :
Clean the asparagus and cook them in boiling water in a vertical position. Leave the asparagus tips out of water. When they are tender drain. Cut off  the tips of the asparagus and put aside (which will still be a bit ‘raw). With a food processor blend the asparagus until it forms a cream. In a bowl pour the cream of asparagus, combine the ricotta, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well.
For the ravioli top:
pancetta
a clove of garlic
evo oil
dry white wine
asparagus tips.
How it works:
In a pan  heat evo oil and add the garlic. Cook for a few seconds. Add the diced pancetta. Cook for a minute and add wine. When the wine has in part evaporated add the asparagus tips you put aside earlier. Cook for a couple of minutes. Done. Drain ravioli and mix with the sauce directly in the pan for a few minutes. Serve.