As some of you know I love cooking, so whenever I get the chance I try out some local flavors and make it my own. During my latest trip in the South of France, we ran out of ricotta and the ground beef I had bought appeared to be bad quality so I tossed it. Guess what: I dug into the fridge and came up with this delicious tuna ravioli recipe.
Ingredients for dough:
Flour type “00”: 200gr / 7 oz
Semolina flour: 100gr / 3.5 oz (replace by regular flour if not available)
Eggs: 3 (free-range preferred)
Olive oil: 1 teaspoon
Salt: 1/2 teaspoon
Ingredients for tuna filling:
Canned tuna: 200gr / 7 oz
Mascarpone: 200gr / 7 oz
Grated parmesan: 3 tablespoons
Egg: 1 (free range preferred)
Salt & pepper
Preparation:
Let’s first start with the dough. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix them with a wooden spoon. Once you mixed them to the max possible with a spoon you throw the mixture on your work surface. Hand knead the mixture until you have a dough that is consistent in color. (no more white spots should be visible) Wrap the dough in cellophane and place it in the fridge for a minimum of 30mins.
While the dough is resting you can prepare the filling. Grind the tuna with a mixer or chop it really well with a knife if you don’t have a mixer. Then add all other filling ingredients and mix well.
Once the dough is done resting the fun part begins. You’ll also need a rest after that 😉 Cut the ball of roll in two and roll it separately so you get two sheets for ravioli. You need to roll out the dough as thin as possible and try rolling it into a very large rectangle. You’ll need a dough roller or a glass wine bottle usually works as well if you don’t have one. Plus you get to drink the wine… When you think it is thin enough, roll a little more. It will be worth it in taste.
Once you’re satisfied with the thickness you can trim down the irregular sides so that you have a nice even rectangle. Usually, you can cut it down the length so you get two long strips. Then on each strip, you position the filling with a piping bag. (you can also use a ziplock bag and cut off a corner). When positioning the filling always position it in the bottom half of the dough strip. (you will be folding over the top part of the dough strip so that you can close the ravioli). As to spacing between them, I usually put two fingers between each dot of filling. The amount of filling per dot should be 1.5″ in diameter.
Once the dough strip has all filling dots placed you need to put some water around each strip, this will help the dough stick together. You can just use your fingers to make the dough wet. Then fold over the top part of the dough strip over the filling dots and press the sided well around each dot. The goal is to get the air out from the dough and just have the filling. Once folded you can cut the ravioli out with a circular shape (like a coffee cup or so) or you can just cut square ravioli with a knife.
Hope you enjoy this tuna ravioli recipe. Enjoy the cooking and dining!