(Recipe found on the Food Network site here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
In order to make the filling for this ravioli, you will need the following: Eggs, Grated Parmesan cheese, Rotisserie Chicken, Fresh Basil, Ricotta (I used Part-Skim Ricotta to lower the fat content), Freshly ground pepper, and Kosher Salt.
Begin by taking all of the meat off of the rotisserie chicken. Then measure 1/2 cup of the chicken (I included some white and some dark meat), and refrigerate the remaining chicken. Finally with this remaining 1/2 cup of meat, finely shred it as you see above.
Place the 1/2 cup of finely shredded chicken in a bowl and add 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese to it.
Add one egg to the bowl…
…followed by 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
Then chiffonade the basil leaves so you have about 2 Tablespoons of basil.
Add the basil to the filling mixture…
…and mix it up well. Then grab a large pot and fill it with water and set it on the stove to boil. You can make the sauce that Giada lists in the recipe below, but I preferred to use my favorite spicy jarred pasta sauce (Target’s Archer Farms brand Arrabiata sauce). So I went ahead and heated up about a cup of the sauce over a low heat to warm it up, while I made the ravioli.
Now it’s time to roll out the dough. You can either use a pasta press or a rolling pin, it’s up to you. I found it easier to work with fairly small segments of dough so that it wouldn’t tear. Just make sure the dough is about 4 inches wide so that it will be large enough for making ravioli. I went to level 5 of the pasta press for the thickness I desired.
Once your dough is rolled out to a good size, then place one teaspoon of filling right down the middle of the dough and space them about an inch apart.
Then pull the dough over the filling and lightly press around the filling as you see above.
Using a knife or a pizza wheel, cut in between the filling so that you have ravioli cut up.
Then press firmly around the filling to ensure that the dough has made a nice seal so that the filling doesn’t leak out when you cook it. Above you’ll see my finished ravioli. Adorable, no? 🙂
It’s now time to cook the ravioli, which you will want to do in two batches. It literally takes 2 or 3 minutes, and it will tell you when it’s done. When you put the ravioli in the water, it will float to the top once it’s cooked as you see above.
When the first batch of ravioli was cooked, I used my handy dandy Spider utensil to drain the pasta and divide it between my dishes. I place a little bit of sauce on top of the ravioli to keep it from getting cold and to also help the pasta to not stick together. Then cook the remaining ravioli and serve it. I topped mine with more sauce and some fresh basil. This was definitely in my Top 5 list of things I have made so far on this blog, so I really hope you give this a try…it was AH-MAY-ZING!!
Note that for the above steps, I only used the filling recipe below. I used the pasta dough recipe found here, and my favorite jarred sauce.
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup very hot water
Filling:
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup finely shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Sauce:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation Instructions:
For the dough:
In a large bowl combine the flour and the water. Using a wooden spoon, stir to combine into a large ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.
For the filling:
Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
To form the ravioli:
Cut the dough into 4 evenly sized pieces. The dough should be slightly sticky. Add extra flour as necessary for rolling, but use only a little as necessary. Form each piece into a 2 by 6-inch rectangle. Recover the dough with the plastic wrap.
Lightly dust the work surface and a rolling pin. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into a 4 by 19-inch rectangle. Place 9 rounded teaspoons of filling about 1-inch apart down the center of the dough. Fold the dough over the filling. Press down around the edges of each of the ravioli with your fingertips. Cut the ravioli into small squares and press down around the edges again with your fingertips to seal. Place the finished ravioli on a baking tray and continue forming the remaining ravioli.
To Cook the Ravioli:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add half the ravioli and cook until the ravioli float stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain into a large bowl and cook the remaining ravioli.
For the Sauce:
Pour the olive oil over the cooked ravioli. Add the basil, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Gently toss to coat and serve immediately.
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