Chef in Tuscany at your Holiday Home and Cookery Course: Fresh Orange Ravioli and Rocket Pesto recipe!

You know we go all around Tuscany for Private Cooking Classes and Dinners and we often have to face a long way, up to 2,30 hours by car.

Finally, last time they call us just 10 minutes from where I live…alèèè! A beautiful villa near Lucca named villa del papa, located in a Santa Maria del Giudice a small village with many shops where buying all you need.

I already knew the customers who I was looking forward to meeting, they had a “Private Couple Cooking Class” with us, Cuoche in Vacanza (Chefs at your Holiday Home) about 3 years ago and the liked having another class together with their daughter and her boyfriend.

I was so thrilled when they contacted me, we were keeping in touch on our facebook-page and I’ll never forget when, right in the middle of their cookery course, we’ll decide to stop for a while and they taught me to prepare the Real Scottish Porridge!

Like most of our customers and students, they love Fresh Handmade Pasta and like making it for their family and friends. Therefore, with a special Italian sauce, fresh Pasta is one of the most amazing meals you can offer to everyone that you love. Despiting what they say (time-consuming…) you can prepare your pasta and store it for a while;

if you make a not filled pasta (ex: Tagliatelle):

1) you can store it over a tray at room temperature covered with kitchen paper (consuming by 6 days)

2) you can store it in the freezer (put it in a plastic-bag) once dried it at room temperature

if you make pasta with filling (ex: Ravioli, Tortelli…):

1) you have to eat it by 2 days (there’s often ricotta cheese inside)

2) you can store it in freezer in plastic bag: first you put the pasta in freezer over a tray for 30 minutes, than you can take the “semi-frozen” Ravioli and put them inside the plastic bag and store in freezer up to 3 months.

Coloring Pasta with only natural ingredients is possible and funny!

My special customers choosed to learn making:

Fresh Handmade Pasta ORANGE Ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and fresh Basil and seasoned with Rocket (Rucola) Pesto Sauce and Pinenuts. You know you can “colour” make fresh handmade pasta with many ingredients…here’s the link for black tagliatelle!
Panzerotti suffed with mozzarella cheese and fresh chopped tomatoes
Pummarola sauce
Chocolate Salami

Here’s your recipe about this amazing Italian First course that you can make at your home for your friends and family.

Orange Ravioli with Rocket Pesto Sauce

Recipe by Erika Elia (CuocheinVacanza.com)

Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 6 minutes
Total time: 1 h 6 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients

For the Fresh Pasta Dough:
4 eggs
400 gr (14 oz) 00 flour or 0 Flour
4 tbsp tomato paste
For the filling:
500 gr (16oz) ricotta cheese (the best one is from sheep)
30 gr (1oz) basil leaves
to taste salt
to taste pepper
to taste nutmeg powder
50 gr (2oz) parmesan cheese
1 egg

For Rocket Pesto Sauce:
200gr (7 oz) rocket
30 gr (1 oz) pinenuts
2 garlic cloves
50 gr (2 oz) Parmesan or Grana Padano Cheese
50 gr (2 0z) Pecorino Cheese
1 glass extra Virgin Olive Oil
to taste pepper
to taste salt

Instructions

Making the Ravioli:
(you can flip this step by mixing the following ingredients with a kneading machine)
Pour the flour into a bowl, make a hole in the center and add the eggs.
Add the tomato paste and start mixing with the tips of the fingers to take more flour you can. Continue kneading with your hand palm.
Knead the dough mix thoroughly until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.
Shape in a ball and put it to rest covered with a damp cloth for at least 30 minutes so that it will be easier to work it.
Roll out the dough:
first with a rolling pin, then with a pasta machine; 1 time at number 4, 1 time at number 5, and finally at number 7). It has to be thin and uniform.
Cut into strips, ideally equal size.
Take a strip and place a teaspoon of filling in small piles 3cm distance and
cover with a second strip pressing the dough with your fingers around the piles of filling (to get off the air)
cut the pasta using the pastry wheel in many 7cm side squares
close every side helping you with a long fork passed in the flour
put in salted (a handful of coarse salt) boiling water for about 6 minutes since it boils again
Making the filling:
simply mix all the ingredients with a large fork and taste
Making the Rocket Pesto Sauce:
the same steps of Traditional Basil Pesto Sauce, namely:
toast the pinenuts over a pan and let them cold
put the rocket in a mixer, add all the ingredients except for oil and mince them.
pour in slowly the extra virgin, while mincing.
taste your pesto sauce and add (if necessary) what you think it needs.
You have to obtain a creamy sauce keeping the brilliant green color of veggie.