Name: Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: ½ tbsp olive oil; 200 g spinach (washed and well dried); 250 g ricotta cheese (vegetarian if required, drained); 100 g Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese alternative (finely grated); pinch nutmeg; pinch salt and pepper; 225 g grade 00 flour (plus some to dust); 2 medium eggs; 2 medium egg yolks; 2 tbsp semolina (to dust the tray); 100 g salted butter; 15 g fresh sage leaves; 1 tbsp lemon juice; pinch salt and pepper

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This spinach and ricotta ravioli with sage butter is truly special. The ricotta and spinach, flavoured with Parmesan and nutmeg, then wrapped in tender from-scratch egg pasta, dressed in an irresistible sage and lemon butter sauce.

Finished plate of spinach and ricotta ravioli.

It's really easy to make this delicious fresh pasta. The dough is made using a food processor so it's super quick. All you do is pop the flour in the processor bowl and add the eggs while pulsing the blades until you have a sticky crumb that can be kneaded into a smooth dough.

The filling is made by quickly wilting spinach and then mixing with ricotta, grated Parmesan and a pinch of nutmeg. It's simple but utterly delicious and lets the natural flavours speak for themselves.

Close up of the finished spinach and ricotta ravioli on a decorative plate.

You'll then use a pasta machine to roll the pasta in to lovely thin pasta strips and fill it with the spinach and ricotta mixture, cutting out circular ravioli with a cookie cutter.

Finally, while the pasta boils, you'll make up an incredible sauce but frying fresh sage leaves in salted butter then bring it all together to produce this stunning ravioli dish.

A plate of spinach and ricotta ravioli with one of the ravioli pieces cut open.

Ready to try it? Here's the full recipe for my spinach and ricotta ravioli with sage butter.

Ingredients

For the spinach and ricotta filling

½ tbsp olive oil
200 g (7 oz) spinach washed and well dried
250 g (9 oz) ricotta cheese vegetarian if required, drained
100 g (1 cup) Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese alternative finely grated
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt and pepper

For the pasta dough

225 g (1½ cup) grade 00 flour plus some to dust
2 medium eggs
2 medium egg yolks
2 tbsp semolina to dust the tray

For the sage butter

100 g (7 tbsp) salted butter
15 g (1 cup) fresh sage leaves
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch salt and pepper

Equipment

Instructions

Make the spinach and ricotta filling

Warm the oil in a pan.

Add the spinach.

Overhead shot of spinach leaves in a pan.

Wilt for just 1-2 minutes.

Overhead shot of spinach leaves after being cooked on a low heat in the pan.

Take off the heat and tip onto a board or plate to cool. Don’t skip this step or the heat will make the filling too loose to work with.

Put the ricotta, nutmeg, Parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl.

When the spinach is cold, press the excess liquid out, then chop roughly and add to the bowl.

Adding the chopped spinach to the bowl of ingredients.

Stir together with a fork.

Overhead shot of the bowl having stirred the chopped spinach into the mixture.

Cover the bowl and put in the fridge to chill while you make the pasta.

Make the the pasta dough

Start the pasta by adding the flour to a food processor bowl.

Overhead shot of flour inside a food mixer.

Pulse the processor as you add the eggs one at a time until fully combined into a sticky, clumpy crumb.

Overhead shot of the food processor having added eggs to the flour and mixed.

If it seems dry and isn’t clumping, you can pulse in a tablespoon of egg white.

Turn out onto a clean surface and knead into a smooth dough.

Overhead shot of the pasta dough on a wooden surface.

Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes to make it easier to work with.

Fill the ravioli

Divide the pasta dough in half, working one piece at a time whilst keeping the other wrapped to prevent it from drying out.

Shape the piece into a rectangle and set the pasta machine to its widest setting. Pass the pasta through the machine, then fold up and pass through again at 90 degrees from the folds. Repeat until you have a smooth sheet without tears, splits or dry patches.

Overhead shot of the pasta dough being rolled through a pasta machine.

You can now reduce the number on your machine by one and pass the pasta through again twice. Keep working down the numbers, passing the pasta through twice each time and dusting with a tiny bit of flavour if it sticks until you are down to at least the penultimate setting (e.g. if your machine runs from 7 down to 1, then don't stop sooner than setting 2).

Dust the underside of the strip very lightly with flour so that it doesn't stick and lay it out flat. Cut it in half so that you have two shorter strips, side by side.

Overhead shot of the pasta dough having been cut in half and laid across a wooden surface.

Spoon four tablespoons of filling along the length of the strip, well spaced apart.

Adding balls of the ricotta and spinach mixture to the pasta sheet.

You now need to place pasta over the ricotta filling. You could do this my lifting the whole sheet, but I find it easiest to cut the sheets into fours.

This means that you can I can place a square on top of each round of ricotta.

Folding the pasta sheet onto the ricotta mixture.

Press all the way round firmly, making sure to press out any air out before sealing.

Overhead shot of the ricotta and spinach ravioli having been sealed together.

Cut out each of the ravioli rounds using a large, plain-edged 9cm (3.5 inch) cookie cutter. A glass tumbler or knife will work too.

Pull away the pasta offcuts and cover them to rest use later. Check your ravioli are sealed all around and press around the edges further if needed to seal.

Overhead shot of the four finished ravioli pieces.

Sprinkle semolina generously on a tray and arrange the ravioli as you work, sprinkling more semolina on top too so that they don’t stick together.

Repeat with the remaining pasta dough and filling. Now gather up the rested offcuts and repeat the kneading and rolling process to produce more pasta you can fill with the remaining filling.

You should get about 24 in total.

If you have leftover pasta dough after you've used up all your filling, you can gather it up, repeat the kneading process, put back through the machine and make some tagliatelle, which will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Leave your ravioli to firm a little while you make the sauce. If you’re not ready to cook them straight away, cover the tray loosely with clingfilm and place in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Cook the pasta and sauce

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.

Put the salted butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat.

Meanwhile, lower the ravioli into the boiling water. They will cook in just 4 minutes.

Heat gently until all the butter is melted.

Overhead shot of the butter having melted in the pan.

Add the sage leaves.

Adding sage to the pan of melted butter.

Fry until they are sizzling, then add the lemon juice.

Overhead shot of the butter and sage mixture having added some parmasan shavings.

Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the butter, basting to cover.

Adding the ravioli to the sage and butter mixture.

Serve the pasta to plates, spooning some of the sage butter on top and serve immediately.

Side on shot of the finished ravioli served on a decorative plate.

Enjoy!

Finished serving of the spinach and ricotta ravioli on a decorative plate.

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5 from 4 votes

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time5 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Pasta meals

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: 16 ravioli

Author: Emily Leary