You have to try the best spinach and ricotta agnolotti recipe! Beautiful, easy, and delicious!
Spinach and ricotta ravioli is a classic Italian combination when it comes to pasta. Why not do a multicolor pasta with some of the fantastic spinach that is growing wild during the spring months? Well, that is exactly what I decided to do. It might take a little extra time and work but adds a little more to the flavor and aesthetics to the dish.
I finished this simple spinach and ricotta ravioli recipe with a little bread crumbs, a little cream, and chives. Here is the spinach and ricotta pasta recipe, I hope you enjoy it!
Spinach and Ricotta Agnolotti
Spinach Pasta
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup semolina (plus more)
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 cup spinach (cooked, drained, and pureed. (3 tbsp of puree))
- 3 tbsp warm water
- 1 tsp salt
Basic Egg Pasta
Cheese Filling
- 1 lb ricotta
- 2 oz parmesan
- 2 oz asiago (or trugalo)
- 1 salt and pepper (to taste)
Garnish
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 3 tbsp cream
- 2 tbsp chives (snipped )
How to make cheese filling
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Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and place into a plastic pastry bag.
How to make basic egg pasta
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Place 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of semolina in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add eggs, yolks, water, and salt. With a fork stir the egg mixture until it starts to form a ball of dough. Then use your hands to form the dough. Add more flour if the dough is wet. Knead the pasta for 5 minutes and then cover and rest for at least 30 minutes.
How to make spinach pasta
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Use the same ingredients and technique except add the spinach puree
How to make agnolotti pasta
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Take your basic pasta and cut in half. Leave one half covered while you work with the other half. Take the half of the pasta with a rolling pin and roll until the dough is thin enough to fit inside the biggest setting on your pasta machine ( I use the kitchenaid attachment). Then run the pasta all the way down to the lowest setting twice. Dusting the dough with flour if it is too wet.Repeat the same steps with your spinach pasta. Then on the third time you want to roll each the egg and spinach pasta thin enough to feed the pasta machine. But before you feed it the third time you want to cut each dough in half lengthwise. Take one half of the egg pasta and half of the spinach pasta and carefully pinch them together to make one dough. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough. Take your mixed pasta dough, the egg pasta and the spinach pasta, through the first setting of the pasta machine. Continue all the way down to 6.
Using your pastry bag pipe the cheese mixture along the bottom of the pasta leaving about a 1/2 inch from the edge. Run it along the whole length of the pasta sheet leaving about an inch or two at the ends (one long tube of filling). Then take a pastry brush or spray bottle of water and brush the top portion of the pasta sheet. Take the bottom part of the pasta closest to the filling, and roll over to the brushed top portion. You should now have a long tube like pasta running all the way down the length of the pasta.
Now, at every 1/2 inch use your index fingers and press down with with each index finger to create a little "ravioli" Continue the same thing all the way down the pasta sheet. Then using a pinwheel cutter cut away the excess pasta at the top. Then cut in between each press that you make with your fingers to create each agnolotti. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and extra semolina flour to help prevent sticking. Set aside while you aside while you repeat the same process with the other half of the pasta dough.
To finish
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Place your Spinach agnolotti pasta in a pot of salted, boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes until they float to the top. Strain off and place in the saute pan with a little bit of pasta water, cream, and butter to emulsify into the water and pasta. Season with salt. Place four on a plate and top with toasted bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and chives. Serve and enjoy!
