Recipe: Mario Batali inspired Raviolone

I have a bone to pick with Mr. Batali.   For our anniversary dinner, I chose to recreate a recipe that I had seen on Iron Chef America.  Since it was his creation, I decided to use his pasta dough recipe as well, and boy was that a HUGE mistake.  I did exactly what he said, and it turned out to be a big pile of mess.

Here's why, his recipe called for

3 1/2 cups flour
4 xtra large egg yolks

That's it.  I should have seen the warning signs........like there is way too much flour, and no oil.   So, I tried it anyway and just ended up using up six egg yolks, because I didn't have extra large eggs, and then getting this sand-like mass of dough, and having to throw it all away.

So, I decided to pull out my notebook from culinary school, and searched for the recipe we used to make pasta dough, and it was quite different.

100 grms flour ( 1 3/4 cups flour approx)
1 egg
1 tbsp. oil
Salt

Perfect.  Perfect, perfect.

Now, the fun part, is coming:

Pile your flour on a clean counter or board.  Mix in the salt.  Make a well in the center, and crack the egg and add the oil.  With a fork, mix the egg and oil, and then start incorporating the flour from the top sides of the well, working inwards until all the flour has been incorporated and you have a ball.  With well floured hands, knead the dough approximately for 12 minutes, using the heel of your hand to push forward and then gather back in with your fingers.  You'll know its done when you make an indentation with your finger and it springs back into shape.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temp for 15 minutes, or a few hours in the fridge, but bring it back to room temp when you are going to roll it. 

So, Mario's recipe didn't work, but the filling was very promising.....but I did end up changing a few things.
His raviolone was like this:
Sweet potato and egg yolk stuffed raviolone with pork guanciale and shaved white truffle.
1.I bloody wish I could buy a white truffle.  But alas, no $$.
2. I think pork guanciale is very strong, so I omitted it.

Mine went a little something like this:
Roasted pumpkin, ricotta, pancetta and egg yolk stuffed raviolone, with white truffle oil.

I know, the oil is a crude and completely fabricated substitution (the oil, that is) but hey, beggars can't be choosers.  Let me tell you, IT ROCKED.

To roll your dough, roll it out in your pasta machine until setting 5, which is the second to thinnest setting.  If you don't have a pasta rolling machine, with a rolling pin, roll it out to 1/4 inch thick.

So for the filling you need:
250 grams roasted pumpkin
125 gr. ricotta cheese
30 gr. diced and cooked pancetta
3 egg yolks
egg white
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all your ingredients together, except for the egg yolks, which should be on separate plates or bowls.
Cut your pasta into 5 inch squares, and place 1/3 of the filling, and one egg yolk.  Top it with another pasta square, and seal the edges with egg white.  Do the same with the remaining 2 squares, and the rest of the pasta you can freeze it for up to a month.

In a large stockpot, bring 3 liters of salted water to a boil.  When it is boiling, reduce heat to med high, you want a less vigorous boil, and drop in your raviolone, and cook, turning, for 4-5 minutes.  Carefully take out of the pot, straining it on a paper towel if you like, place on a plate, drizzle it with as much truffle oil as you like, shaved parmesan and a fresh sprinkling of fresh cracked pepper.
When you cut the raviolone, your egg yolk starts to ooze out and mixes with the truffle oil to make your sauce, absolutely sublime!
We had it with a wonderful bottle of Laurent Perrier Cuvee Rose Brut Champage, but you can pick and choose what you like!
Buon appetito!