There are certain meals that I cook because they bring me back to a place or time. I am a sentimental cook. Usually, Sunday pasta is one of those meals. Having recently watched the 2004 documentary on Shopsin’s called “I Like Killing Flies” on Netflix, I became amazed at the thousands of recipes that flow through Kenny Shopsin’s head. I was inspired a to try something new. We’ve been making a lot of fresh pasta in the NotaFoodie house over the past couple of months , so I figured that, it being Sunday dinner and all, I’d have to experiment a bit within constraints of a normal Sunday meal.
At 5am on Sunday I was awoken by my polite, but pain-in-the-ass dog (polite, because she asks permission by repeatedly “YIIIILLLLP-ing” in my face until I let her in to the bed. Pain-in-the-ass because once she gets permission, she then takes up the entire bed and jams her bony dog feet in to my back). As I lay uncomfortably in bed, this recipe for short rib ravioli jumped in to my head. I compiled a list, and as soon as the market opened, I was out the door.
Luckily, they had some great looking beef short ribs on sale (my other option was a braised lamb shank ravioli- which might happen soon anyway). After a quick trip to the Italian bakery for a semolina loaf (you CAN NOT get good bread in a super market), I was home preparing this meal.
Here you go (This recipe makes around 60 ravioli- enough for 4 adults, 2 kids, and a lunch the next day):
Special Equipment
A pasta machine (like this one)
A ravioli maker (not necessary, but it’s easier than making them by hand)
A slow cooker or other cast iron braising vessel
A blender (preferably an immersion blender)
For the Filling and Sauce:
4lbs of bone in beef short ribs
2tbs of Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef stock
8oz can of tomato sauce
1 28oz can peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
1 bay leaf
1 handful of flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese to taste
For the Pasta:
Eggs and flour…See “A Note on Making Fresh Pasta” section below.
Here we go:
- Season the short ribs with salt and pepper
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat the olive oil
- When the oil is hot, but not smoking, sear the short ribs on all four sides. You will probably have to work in batches.
- When ribs are done, move them to the slow cooker or braising device.
- Sauté the carrots, celery, and onions for 3-4 minutes in the beef fat and olive oil, the add the garlic and sauté one minute more
- Deglaze the pan with the wine and stock, making sure to stir and get all of the brown bits stuck to the pan. Add the tomato sauce and bay leaf and let reduce for 5 minutes.
- Pour the sauce from the pan over the ribs and braise. (Use the high setting on your slow cooker for 4-5 hours, or tightly covered in a 350 degree oven for 3 hours)
- One the meat is “fall off the bone” tender, remove it, let it cool enough to handle, and shred the beef, discarding any bits of connective tissue and hunks of fat. Pour the braising liquid in to a bowl and chill it for 30-45 minutes
- Chop the shredded meat and place in a mixing bowl
- Add a handful of chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit of the braising liquid.THIS IS YOUR FILLING
Make the Sauce
Once the braising liquid is chilled, skim the top layer of fat off, and discard. Place remaining liquid (along with all of the chunks of vegetable, but discarding the bay leaf) in to a sauce pan. Add the can of peeled tomatoes and blend with the immersion blender (OR put it all in to a blender and blend, then pour in to sauce pan). Let simmer for 30 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
A Note on Making Fresh Pasta
The art of making pasta takes a lifetime to master. I know that I am a novice. People spend years finding the right ratio of flour to egg, density of flour, salt content, yolk content, etc.
That being said, I’ve had awesome luck using Ruhlman’s Ratio book and app. For this recipe, I figured that 4 eggs was a good a place as any to start, and I was right. It made almost the perfect amount of pasta for the filling that we made.
I cracked four eggs in to a bowl, and weighed them. They came to 214 grams. Ruhlman’s Ratio for pasta is 3 parts flour to 2 parts egg, so I did the math and measured out 321 grams of regular flour. So, for the quantities above, I would say four eggs is a good starting point. Here is a great video to help you make the dough:
Making fresh pasta dough
Next, Fill The Pasta With Your Short Rib Filling
I’m not going to go in to details on how to roll out pasta and fill a ravioli tray. Here are some great resources on the subject:
Making fresh pasta with a pasta machine
Easy Ravioli Making with a Ravioli Plate
Making ravioli WITHOUT a Ravioli Mold (Filling the dough starts at 2:00)
Once you have everything assembled, boil the fresh ravioli in salted water. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly. I threw a few in at the beginning to test the amount of time it takes to cook. I timed mine to be done in 3-4 minutes. Make sure you don’t crowd your pasta. I boiled mine in 3-4 batches.
Remove, toss in a bowl with enough of the sauce to coat.
Garnish with parmesan cheese to taste
EAT!!!!!!
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