chèvre cheese (without the rind)

durum wheat (for pasta making)

Assembling the recipe:

Making the filling:
In the bowl of a food processor place the ricotta, grated parmesan, the chèvre (minus the rind), and the egg yolks and season with a little salt and a little fresh black pepper, keeping in mind that the chèvre and parmesan is salty (so taste as you go). Mix well and place in the refrigerator to get cold, this should take an hour or two and will help when making the ravioli.

Making the dough:
Place the flour and eggs with a big pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the dough comes together. Remove it from the machine and knead for 10 minutes. When done dust with a bit of flour place it in a plastic bag and leave it in the refrigerator to relax for about an hour. You want a pretty stiff dough to work with so add a bit of flour while kneading if the dough is too moist.

Making the ravioli: I get 28 to 32 ravioli from each batch of dough and filling.

When the pasta dough has rested, roll out ¼ of the dough until it passes through the last setting on the pasta machine. Take a large 1tsk. or 1 teas. of filling, and arrange them in rows of 2 on the sheet of pasta dough with about 3- 4 cm. or 1 ½ inches between each spoonful. Roll out another ¼ of the dough and take one beaten egg yolk or a bit of water on a pastry brush and brush the bottom layer of pasta to help seal the ravioli.  Take a second length of dough and drape it over the bottom piece, removing as much air as you can, gently pressing down with your fingers, now cut with a round 6cm or 2 1/4inch crimped cookie cutter. If you don’t have one you can always make them using a glass or in the traditional square shape by cutting them with a knife.

To seal, take each ravioli in your hands and force out any excess air, if you don't expanding air can make the ravioli explode or open once you have dropped them into the boiling water. Then with your fingers press the edges firmly together taking care not to deform the ravioli too much.

Sprinkle flour over the bottom a large flat dish or tray lined with baking paper (or sprinkle with course semolina) and set each ravioli on it (do not let them overlap) as you finish them and place in the refrigerator until ready to cook. Do not cover them if you are going to use them the same day. If you wish to freeze them, set the tray or dish in the freezer and freeze them before placing them into a freezer container. I don’t recommend plastic bags; I think it is better to place then in some form of flat plastic container with a bit of baking paper between each layer of ravioli. To cook frozen ravioli - don’t defrost them, I just take them directly from the freezer cook them from frozen.

Deep Fry: The sage leaves saving the stems for the sauce. Heat a couple of cm (or an inch) of olive oil in a small sauce pan and fry the leaves a few at a time until they stop bubbling. That means all the water in the leaves is gone and they should be crisp. Drain in a single layer on paper towels.

The Sauce:
Melt the butter in a large sauté pan big enough to fit all the ravioli with the olive oil. When the it foams up and the foams begins to disappear toss in the sage stems that you saved.(in a single layer) and let them fry for a moment or two, to infuse the butter with their flavor and remove. Take care not to burn the butter - it will be your sauce.

Now add all the ravioli and coating them well with the flavored butter taking care not to break them. Toss in the grated cheese and a couple of large spoonfuls of the ravioli's cooking water. Toss well to coat all the pasta. The water will help to create a sauce from the butter and cheese. Salt and grind fresh black pepper over them to taste.

The sauce is really an emulsion and should be glossy and just coat the pasta without being oily or greasy looking.

Pour them out into a large serving plate, (or individual warmed plates) and toss over the fried sage leaves and shave over a few ribbons of parmesan cheese for decoration.

If you need you can melt a little extra butter if it seems they are a litte bare. (dry)

This is a great dish but ravioli do take a bit of time to prepare. I think it’s really worth the work. The sauce is not really a sauce, it's more like a dressing. I strongly suggest that you make the ravioli the day you need them if your trying to impress freinds.

Although you can eat thousands of these, the right size portion for an appetizer is 4-5 ravioli per person. If the portions is bigger and you are serving a main course and then salad and desert your guests will need to be removed from your home with using a small truck. Its better to leave them wanting more and a bit more comfortable at the end of the meal.

I like making ravioli and dumplings, I find it very therapeutic and they have the added benefit of being so fantastic to eat.

Freezing ravioli is great but the texture of the cheese filling is affected if frozen for too long a time, they can become a bit grainy on the tonge, but what the hell, how fantastic to find them in the freezer after a hard days work. (Make Extra!)