Fresh Corn Ravioli from Lindsay

Fresh Corn Ravioli from Lindsay

by Victoria Challancin

If you haven't yet discovered the Love & Olive Oil blog, check it out.  Lindsay inspires me over and over with her fresh and modern recipes.  This recipe comes from her blog, but of course, of course, she made her pasta from scratch.  Although I used to make fresh pasta regularly, to the point where my kitchen looked rather like a graveyard of hanging corpses with all of the draped and drying pastas,  now, I confess, I try to buy top-quality pasta from good sources, or in the case of ravioli, I rely on frozen gyoza or wonton wrappers.  Sigh...yes, I really do.

Once you have made ravioli from purchased gyoza or wonton wrappers, it is just so easy to invent myriad fillings and salsas.  You can make them with a minimum fuss, and the results are delicious.  

Here are a couple of more ravioli I have made in the past:

• Heart-Shaped Goat Cheese Ravioli with Arugula Sauce (for Valentine's Day)
• Puff Pastry Ravioli filled with Caponata and served with Marcella Hazan's Buttery Tomato Sauce
• Butternut Squash, Sage, and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce

In yesterday's cooking class, I taught my students just how easy it is to make ravioli using gyoza wrappers.  The only trick is to expel all the trapped air so that the ravioli don't float before they are cooked.  We have beautiful sweet corn in season now, which was perfect for the filling with the left-over filling (and there was quite a bit) which I will probably use today to make panko-coated patties with a marinara sauce for serving.  

 Filled gyoza ravioli drying on a baking sheet

Cook's Notes:  I used fresh, seasonal sweet corn and ricotta cheese made by a local Italian cheesemaker, Remo, who has a factory just outside of town.  My herbs are abundant after all the rain we've had, so I used parsley, oregano, marjoram, and large-leaf Italian basil.  The wine was a simple Sauvignon Blanc--dry and fine for this recipe.  If you want to make your own fresh pasta, do check out Lindsay's blog.  If your sauce "breaks" after you prepare it and waiting to serve the ravioli, simply stir it gently over a low heat to re-emulsify.  I also plan to use the leftover filling today in panko-encrusted patties, though it would also be great spooned over pasta or added to an omelet or frittata.

Note also that this sauce recipe only makes about 1 cup--and though the ravioli doesn't require much sauce to punch of the flavor, you may want to double it.

Recipe:  Fresh Corn Ravioli with Herb Cream Sauce

( Adapted slightly from a Recipe by Lindsay of love & olive oil)

Makes 4 to 5 servings

For the ravioli:

1 package wonton or gyoza wrappers, thawed

For the filling:  

2 cups corn kernels (cut from 3 ears)

2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

For the sauce:

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup butter, in cubes

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup chopped mixed herbs (parsley, oregano, and basil)

Parmesan cheese

To prepare filling: 

Place corn kernels in a food processor and pulse once or twice until coarsely chopped.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in ricotta cheese, egg, cream salt, pepper, and herbs.

To assemble ravioli:

On a clean work surface lay out about 8 or 10 of the gyoza wrappers,  Take one, moisten the edges with water, using your finger.  Place about 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper.  Moisten the edges of a second wrapper, place on top of the gyoza with filling, press together, gently expelling any trapped air.  Press the edges gently with your fingers or with a fork, if preferred.  Place the filled ravioli on a baking sheet.  Continue with the remaining wrappers.  Note that these can be frozen.

Working in batches, boil ravioli for 7 to 8 minutes (add 2 to 3 minutes if frozen) or until tender.  Cooked ravioli will float to the top of the boiling water.  Remove to a plate, using a slotted spoon.  Save 1/4 cup of the cooking water.

To prepare sauce:

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add wine and simmer until reduced slightly, about 2 minutes.  Add cream and buter and simmer until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes, whisking constantly to prevent cream from scorching.  If needed, add reserved pasta water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until sauce is the consistence of thick cream.  Stir in chopped herbs.  Spoon over ravioli and top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

 A bowl of cooked ravioli napped with a touch of herb sauce

A Note on Beurre Blanc

Beurre blanc, or "white butter" in French, is a classic butter sauce of butter and wine.  It is said to have originated in the 20th century in the Loire Valley as the result of a recipe gone wrong.  Apocryphal, perhaps, but the story says that the chef Clémence Lefeuvre was making a béarnaise sauce that she used in her restaurant La Buvette de la Marine, but forgot to add the taragon and egg yolks.  The resulting sauce became known as beurre blanc, and is now a modern classic in French cooking.

Traditional beurre blanc doesn't contain cream, but cream stabilizes the sauce and helps emulsify  and incorporate the butter, making it easier for the non-professional cook  The sauce can break or separate if either over heated or when it cools; if this happens, reheat gently, whisking constantly.  In our recipe today, a bit of the pasta cooking water can be added, one teaspoon at a time.

Parting Shot:

Angus, at nine weeks, with silly eyebrows, sharp teeth, and big feet

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved.

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