Ravioli with baccala and carrot sauce
I must admit, I was a bit sceptical the first time I tried the combo of ravioli with baccala and carrot sauce but it turned out to be absolutely delicious. As well as pleasing to the eye.
Being a great fan of baccala mantecato I’ve always wanted to use it for more than antipasto and fishballs, so when I found this recipe in the Cook section in the online Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera , it had to be tried. They suggested serving the baccala as ravioli with pumpkins, but having no pumpkins, I decided to use my carrot sauce instead. The combination of salty fish, sweet carrots and a drop of acidic balsamic vinegar was phenomenal.
Ingredients
Serves 4
For the pasta
150 g flour typo 00
150 g semolina
2 eggs
For the filling
200 g of soaked and desalted baccala/salted cod
2 big potatoes
50 ml double cream
100 ml milk
100 white wine
1 clove of garlic
For the carrot sauce
1 tbsp butter
3 carrots
250 ml vegetable broth
1 white onion
1 fresh sprig of rosemary
Preparation
Start by making the paste
Form a heap of flour and semolina on a clean tabletop.
Stir a hole in the middle like a volcano and fill the hole with eggs.
Use a fork to stir the egg and gradually incorporate the flour.
Start kneading with the heel of your hand, when the batter becomes too dry for the fork.
Add drops of water if necessary to make a smooth, homogeneous pasta dough.
Cover the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the filling.
Remove skin and bones from the desalted baccala and cut the fish in cubes.
Peel and dice the potatoes and peel the garlic clove.
Place baccala, potatoes, and garlic in a casserole, cover it with white wine af bring it to the boil
Turn down the heat and add double cream and milk.
Let the ingredients simmer for about 30 minutes until they can be mashed with a fork. Take care not to let it burn.
Let the filling cool while you knead the pasta dough for 10 minutes or roll it through a pasta machine 10 times, before gradually decreasing the width.
Cut the sheets of pasta into your preferred shape.
Place a spoonful filling in the middle of each pasta circle or square.
Seal the ravioli with another pasta circle (For me this method works better than the other way round, but a lot of people like to place and cover the filling on a sheet of pasta before using the ravioli stamp)
Leave the ravioli to rest on a clean kitchen towel, while you make the carrot sauce:
Melt the butter in a casserole
Peel and dice the onion and roast it in the butter until soft and golden
Add the peeled and diced carrots to the casserole and cover it with vegetable broth.
Let the carrots simmer under lid for 30 minutes.
Then blend them to a nice, creamy sauce.
Just before serving, bring a large saucepan full of salted water to the boil
Pop in the ravioli with baccala and let them boil for 3 minutes
Serve the ravioli on a bed of warm carrot sauce topped with a sprig of rosemary and a few drops of balsamic vinegar.
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