Beef Ravioli with Red Sauce (photos)

Here is my take on this dish. There were leftovers when I made this and at some point I will add the leftover portion to this post showing the ravioli with a second - different - lighter sauce.

There are lots of ingredients. To make the pasta, you'll need:

1 cup Semolina Flour
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons water

Red Sauce - Marinara with Basil

10 ounce can of tomatoes, crushed
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 of a medium onion - left whole and removed
2 cloves garlic - left whole and removed
1 1/2 Tablespoon Basil
1 1/2 Tablespoons Oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 cup dry white wine

Meat filling:

6 ounces ground beef
2 cups fresh spinach
1 Tablespoon chopped onion
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1 cup parmesan cheese

Bread and parmesan cheese for plating. We had roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese with this dish.



Making the pasta.

Mound flour and make a well to which you add the oil, salt and egg. Begin working (kneading) the pasta with the heel of your hand and adding very small amounts of water as needed until the pasta forms a tight workable ball. The longer you work the pasta, the more tender it will be. Kneading for 15 or 20 minutes is not unheard of. Of course a mixer or food processor will do the job, but I hardly ever do it that way because I enjoy working the pasta dough. When finished, set the ball aside, wrapped in plastic wrap for at least 15 minutes. Overnight in the refrigerator is fine too.





I let mine rest until the red sauce is well underway and the meat filling is ready. Then I will process it in the pasta roller to make the ravioli.

Making the red sauce:

Add tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomato paste, salt, sugar, basil and oregano to the sauté pan, and bring to a simmer, while crushing the tomatoes with a spoon.



Then add anchovies,





a cup of white wine and simmer at low heat until needed. For this meal that was a simmer of over an hour.

Here - an hour later and ready to plate.



Making Filling:

Sauté spinach in a little olive oil



with onions and mushrooms



Into mixing bowl when finished. I am always shocked at how little this makes but this is plenty.



In same pan, cook off meat with a little onion, garlic, black pepper.



and add to mixing bowl with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.



My preparation uses a ravioli mold that makes 12 ravioli squares. Roll out pasta to setting 2 on the machine. I like the thickness at setting 2, both for forming the squares and the tooth when cooked. This view shows the unfilled pockets of the ravioli squares and the top layer. The mold and top layer should be lightly floured to aid in removing the squares. I forgot to do this. Advice here? Follow molding instructions when using one of these molds.



Each pocket is filled with a little over a teaspoon of meat filling. Then the filling is pressed into place level with the top, moistened with water and the top layer placed, and rolled to cut the squares.











This recipe made two and a half of these for a total of 30 squares, with a little filling left over. A nice serving of this ravioli is maybe 6 - 8 squares. Cook the ravioli in salted water for maybe 14 minutes to get a nice tooth on the pasta. These are wet when they come out of the water. Drain on a towel for a few minutes before plating.



I plated this on warmed plates. A little sauce under the squares.



Then ravioli over sauce, a little sauce on top and parmesan on that.

On table



Plate view



Money shots





I am a sucker for sauce on bread.





Honesty time here. The red sauce was a little overpowering for the ravioli, which had a nice mild meat and spinach taste. We have half of the squares left and I will post the dish with a lighter sauce in a day or two, when we eat leftovers.

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