Nettle Ravioli

I love the taste of fresh pasta. In fact it tastes so good that it only needs some good EVOO (extravergin olive oil), some butter and lots of parmesan cheese. Ever since buying the kitchen aid pasta attachment I have been making pasta often.

Pasta is easy to make and there are plenty of recipes. I make it eyeballing the ingredients, half a/p flour, half semolina, eggs, EVOO, and salt. If it is too dry I add an egg, if too wet I add some flour. Pasta needs to rest before you roll it, to let the gluten relax and to allow the moisture to be distributed.

It all starts with simple ingredients,













then it is resting time,













followed by shaping.











The filling is also simple.

























Buon Appetito!












If there are some dough left over you can roll it up and cut it like tagliatelle.



















Semolina Pasta

3 ounces semolina flour
3 ounces all purpose flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon extravergin olive oil
pinch salt

Mix all the ingredients and knead until smooth. Let rest at room temperature for half an hour. Either roll as thin as possible by hand or use a pasta machine. I used my kitchen aid pasta attachment and went to setting 6. Keep the pasta ribbons covered to avoid drying.


Nettle Filling

1/2 pound nettles
1 medium shallots
homemade ricotta cheese
1 egg
pinch of salt
zest of one lemon

Sauté the shallots in EVOO, then add the nettles and cook until wilted. Chop cooked nettles then mix the rest of the ingredients until well blended.

Homemade Ricotta

2 quarts whole milk
2 cups buttermilk

Heat the milk and the buttermilk to 170F. Let stand at room temperature for one hour then strain it through cheese cloth. Keep it refrigerated until ready to use.