Wild Garlic and Ricotta Ravioli with Nut-Brown Sage Butter

⏱ 110 min · Serves 4

Silky, egg-yolk-rich pasta wrapped around a filling of ricotta and just-wilted wild garlic, finished in foaming brown butter with crisp sage and a shower of Parmesan. It's a spring showpiece worth clearing an afternoon for — the green flecks show through the pasta like stained glass.

Per serving: 842 kcal · 31.0g protein · 61.0g carbs · 52.0g fat

Ingredients

• 300g '00' pasta flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 120g wild garlic leaves, washed
• 400g whole-milk ricotta, drained overnight in a sieve
• 60g Parmesan, finely grated, plus more to serve
• 1 egg yolk (for the filling)
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and black pepper
• 120g unsalted butter
• 20 small sage leaves
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Semolina, for dusting trays

Method

1. Mound the flour on a board, make a well and add the whole eggs, 4 yolks, olive oil and salt. Fork the eggs together, drawing in flour until a shaggy dough forms, then knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, blanch the wild garlic in boiling salted water for 20 seconds, refresh in iced water, then squeeze bone dry. Chop finely.
3. Beat the drained ricotta with the Parmesan, extra yolk, lemon zest, nutmeg and chopped wild garlic. Season well with salt and pepper. Spoon into a piping bag and chill.
4. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each through a pasta machine, working down to the second-thinnest setting, until you can just see your hand through it. Keep unused dough covered.
5. Lay a sheet on a lightly floured surface. Pipe walnut-sized mounds of filling at 5cm intervals along the lower half. Brush around each with water, fold the sheet over and press out air from the centre outwards, sealing tightly. Cut into squares or rounds with a 6cm cutter. Repeat — you should have about 32 ravioli. Rest on semolina-dusted trays.
6. Bring a wide pan of well-salted water to a gentle boil. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until it foams, smells nutty and the milk solids turn hazelnut brown, about 4 minutes. Add the sage and fry 30 seconds until crisp, then take off the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
7. Cook the ravioli in two batches for 2–3 minutes, until they float and the edges are tender. Lift straight into the sage butter with a slotted spoon, adding a splash of pasta water and swirling the pan to coat.
8. Serve at once, spooning over the butter and sage, with plenty of grated Parmesan and cracked black pepper.