Ricotta and spinach ravioli with butter and sage

To prepare the ricotta and spinach ravioli with butter and sage, start by making a sheet of fresh egg pasta for the ravioli. Take a large bowl and pour in the flour (you can start by using 50 g, or 5 ½ tbsp, less than the recommended dose in order to add more as needed if the dough gets too sticky) 1, the lightly beaten eggs and yolk must weigh 124 g (4.38 oz) 2: mix the ingredients well, kneading with your hands until you achieve the right consistency.

Transfer to a lightly floured work surface: continue to work the dough vigorously until it has a compact and elastic consistency. Shape the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap so that it does not dry out 4. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes in a cool place, away from drafts to prevent it from drying out. While the fresh pasta rests, dedicate yourself to the filling. Take a non-stick pan in which you place the well-rinsed spinach. Let them dry over low heat covered with a lid 6.

The spinach must cook until it is very soft 7: at this point you can drain and squeeze it well to make sure it releases all excess liquids 8 and thus keep the dough from getting too wet. Finely chop the spinach. Take another bowl and pour in the ricotta and grated cheese 9.

Flavor with nutmeg 10 and add the chopped spinach 11: mix the ingredients well and transfer the mixture to a disposable pastry bag (you can cut the tip quite wide) 12 and set aside.

Take the fresh pasta dough and remove the plastic wrap. Lightly floured the dough with semolina and divide it into two equal pieces. Cover one of the two pieces with plastic wrap and take the other one. Pass it between the rollers 13, setting the machine from the widest roll to the narrowest until you obtain a rectangular sheet with a thickness of about 2 mm (the thickness of a nickel) and 10 cm (4 inches) wide. Then roll the second piece of dough through the pasta machine in the same way. Place them on a work surface lightly floured with semolina. Then, using the pastry bag, place small dollops of filling on one of the two pasta sheets, about 3 cm away from each other 14. Spray or, if you prefer, brush the edges of the pastry with a little water: this will allow the two sheets to better stick together 15.

Lay the other sheet on top, making sure they match and stick at the edges 16: to avoid breaking the ravioli while cooking, let the air out between one raviolo and the next, exerting light pressure with your fingers from the center of the filled raviolo outwards 17. Then take a notched pastry wheel and make 24 ravioli of 4x4 cm (1.6x1.6 inches) 18.

As you cut the ravioli, place them on a tray lightly floured with semolina and spaced apart so that they do not stick together 19. Now bring a pot with salted water to a boil and add the ravioli as soon as it boils 20. While the ricotta and spinach ravioli are cooking, melt the butter in a pan over very low heat 21.

Add previously-washed, roughly chopped sage leaves 22 and mix the ingredients 23. At this point the ravioli that come up to the surface of the water are ready 24.

Transfer them with a slotted spoon directly into the pan with the sauce 25 to flavor them for a few moments. If necessary, add a ladle of hot water so that the sauce does not dry out too much 26 and finish cooking. Finally, serve your ricotta and spinach ravioli with butter and sage to delight your guests 27!