Fresh fire raviolli in brodo.

Summertime… Most of us begin to think of BBQ’s and little umbrella drinks in the backyard; I think of freshness. I think of gardens blooming with fresh herbs and tomatoes. So, I will share with you my fresh pasta.

Pasta is the one of the most versatile mediums to convey different seasonal flavours. One of my favourite things to do is take a ride to Montreal’s Jean-Talon market, walk around the different vendors and choose the freshest produce and ingredients and put together a tasty and colourful sauce for some fresh pasta.

Today, we will be making some fresh, pepper and ricotta stuffed ravioli with a chicken Brodo and spinach.

Here are the ingredients:

For the Pasta:

2 ½ cups all-purpose Flour
1 Cup semolina flour
3 Extra Large Eggs
1 Egg yolk
1Tsp. Olive oil
Salt to taste

For the filing:

1 chilli pepper (stripped and diced)
1 Cup of ricotta
1 Red bell pepper (Stripped and diced)
Salt and black pepper to taste

Topping:

3 Cups chicken stock
1 pack of baby spinach


(Make this first) For the stuffing:

Strip the pepper down until you are only left with the flesh and dice it as small as possible; do the same with the red bell pepper. Mix the peppers and ricotta in a medium bowl and use salt and black pepper to taste.

For the pasta:

Mix and sift the dry ingredients into a mound. Make hole in the centre of the mound (this should make the mound sort of look like a volcano. Place the eggs and egg yolk into the mound. Use a fork to beat the eggs, once the eggs are beaten, slowly mix the walls of the volcano into the egg mixture. Eventually, the dough will be too thick for the fork, once this happens use your hands. Continue to roll and knead the dough into a mound and use flour to avoid sticking.

Once you have the dough roll, you can begin to slice it up and run the pieces through a pasta machine until it is close to a 3/16 thickness or so.

Spoon little balls of filling at every 1.5 inches. Fold the pasta over the spoonfuls and gently press the edges down to stick. Cut each of the pieces into triangles.

Broth:

Heat 3 cups of chicken stock over low-medium heat until just before boil. Place in the pack of baby spinach inside and salt to taste.

Once a nice simmer is achieved, place the pasta gently into the broth; once cooked (approx. 3 minutes or so) spoon out into a bowl with a little bit of broth and spinach.

Spread some thin slices of Romano cheese over the dish and serve.