When fall rolls around it's time to make dishes that bring together some of the season's best ingredients. Radicchio Ravioli with Chestnut Cream, Sizzled Pork Jowl and Fried Sage is one of those dishes! This recipe was adapted from a La Cucina Italiana recipe.
Since these delicious ravioli can be made in advance and frozen they are a perfect time-saving dish to serve on Thanksgiving and during the holiday season. You can prepare the chestnut cream, pork jowl and sage in about 10 minutes. The ravioli take about 10 minutes to cook, directly from the freezer into the boiling pasta water.
This Radicchio Ravioli with Chestnut Cream, Sizzled Pork Jowl and Fried Sage recipe calls for already peeled and cooked chestnuts, but if you prefer to use fresh chestnuts go for it! Bear in mind it will probably double your preparation time.
Caciocavallo cheese is a delicious southern Italian stretched curd cheese made from sheep's or cow’s milk; the first mention of caciocavallo cheese dates back to 500 BC. Aged provolone cheese is a great alternative to caciocavallo.
Ingredients:
For the pasta:
250 g “00” (or all purpose) flour
120 g egg yolks, about six eggs
20 to 40 g cold water
A generous pinch of salt
For the filling:
250 g radicchio
1 scallion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
250 grams ricotta
60 g aged caciocavallo or aged provolone cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
For the chestnut cream and sauce:
300 g peeled and precooked chestnuts
200 mL vegetable broth
100 g pork jowl (guanciale)
20 medium sage leaves
Salt to taste
Procedure:
For the pasta:
Whisk the egg yolks with 20 g of water.
On a work surface add the egg yolk mixture to the flour, and whisk with a fork until incorporated.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic adding additional water as necessary.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside to rest for an hour.
You can also make these ravioli with a classic pasta dough.
For the filling:
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Rinse the radicchio then pat dry.
Cut off an inch of the radicchio base and discard.
Core the radicchio.
Finely mince the core.
Slice the rest of the radicchio into very thin strips.
Cut the strips into half inch pieces.
Mince the scallion.
Wilt the radicchio and scallion in the olive oil for three minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat.
Cut the caciocavallo cheese into tiny cubes, about ⅜ cm (⅛ inch).
Mix the ricotta and caciocavallo cheese together.
Mix in the radicchio.
Salt and pepper the filling to taste.
For the sauce and chestnut cream:
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Cut the pork jowl into very thin strips about ⅜ cm (⅛ inch) by 2 cm (¾ inch).
Sauté the pork jowl in a nonstick pan over a very low flame until crisp and golden.
Add the sage leaves and cook until crisp but still very green.
Set aside eight chestnut halves to use as a garnish.
Simmer the remaining chestnuts in the broth for three minutes.
Use an immersion blender to cream the chestnuts and broth.
Set aside.
Roll out the pasta and make the ravioli:
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
Roll out into very thin, 8 cm (3 inch) wide, strips. If you are using a pasta machine roll out the dough to the thinnest setting.
Place dollops of pasta filling along each pasta strip, about 2 ½ cm (1 inch) apart.
Place another pasta strip on top and gently press the strips together around each mound of filling so that the two pasta strips are sealed and no air pockets remain around the filling.
Use a pasta cutter to cut out the ravioli shapes.
Set the excess pasta bits aside to use later for making soup.
Continue rolling out the pasta strips and making ravioli until the pasta and filling are finished.
Let rest on a lightly floured dish towel while the pasta water comes to a boil.
If you plan to freeze the ravioli:
Line the ravioli on baking sheets and place in the freezer.
Once the ravioli are frozen solid you can store them in airtight freezer bags for about six months.
Cook the pasta:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, about 5 L (5 quarts).
Add enough salt to the water so that it has a salty taste - similar to seawater.
Cook the ravioli until al dente - until the pasta is soft but not mushy, and still has a bite to it.
Use a teardrop strainer to scoop out the pasta; never use a colander for ravioli!
Homemade ravioli are delicate and a teardrop strainer is the perfect tool to avoid breaking the ravioli.
Gently fold the ravioli into the sauce pan with the guanciale and sage. I always use large silicone scraping spatulas for this.
Serve the pasta:
Reheat the chestnut cream and spread a thin layer on each serving dish.
Top with ravioli, a few pork jowl strips and fried sage leaves.
Serve the Radicchio Ravioli with Chestnut Cream, Sizzled Pork Jowl and Fried Sage immediately.
Note: Cleaning, cooking and peeling chestnuts: This task is so time-consuming it often keeps me from preparing chestnut dishes. I strongly suggest that you purchase already peeled and cooked chestnuts for this dish. Here's where you can purchase them.
Another great fall ravioli dish you might want to try is Pumpkin & Pecan Ravioli in a Brown Butter Sauce.
Radicchio is one of my favorite fall and winter vegetables. It's delicious braised and served with a Piedmontese tomino cheese!
Please note that the below printable recipe can be viewed and printed in either metric or U.S. conventional measurements; just click on your preference within the recipe.
Ingredients
For the pasta:
- 250 g “00” flour
- 120 g egg yolks about six eggs
- 20 to 40 g cold water
- A generous pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 250 g radicchio
- 1 scallion
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 250 grams ricotta
- 40 g aged caciocavallo or aged provolone cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the chestnut cream and sauce:
- 300 g peeled and precooked chestnuts
- 200 mL vegetable broth
- 100 g pork jowl guanciale
- 20 medium sage leaves
- Salt to taste
Instructions
For the pasta:
- Whisk the egg yolks with 20 g of water.
- On a work surface add the egg yolk mixture to the flour, and whisk with a fork until incorporated.
- Knead the dough until smooth and elastic adding additional water as necessary.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside to rest for an hour.
For the filling:
- Rinse the radicchio then pat dry.
- Cut off an inch of the radicchio base and discard.
- Core the radicchio.
- Finely mince the core.
- Slice the rest of the radicchio into very thin strips.
- Cut the strips into half inch pieces.
- Mince the scallion.
- Wilt the radicchio and scallion in the olive oil for three minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from the heat.
- Cut the caciocavallo cheese into tiny cubes, about ⅜ cm (⅛ inch).
- Mix the ricotta and caciocavallo cheese together.
- Mix in the radicchio.
- Salt and pepper the filling to taste.
For the sauce and chestnut cream:
- Cut the pork jowl into very thin strips about ⅜ cm (⅛ incby 2 cm (¾ inch).
- Sauté the pork jowl in a nonstick pan over a very low flame until crisp and golden.
- Add the sage leaves and cook until crisp but still very green.
- Set aside eight chestnut halves to use as a garnish.
- Simmer the remaining chestnuts in the broth for three minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to cream the chestnuts and broth.
- Set aside.
Roll out the pasta and make the ravioli:
- Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
- Roll out into very thin, 8 cm (3 incwide, strips. If you are using a pasta machine roll out the dough to the thinnest setting.
- Place dollops of pasta filling along each pasta strip, about 2 ½ cm (1 incapart.
- Place another pasta strip on top and gently press the strips together around each mound of filling so that the two pasta strips are sealed and no air pockets remain around the filling.
- Use a pasta cutter to cut out the ravioli shapes.
- Set the excess pasta bits aside to use later for making soup.
- Continue rolling out the pasta strips and making ravioli until the pasta and filling are finished.
- Let rest on a lightly floured dish towel while the pasta water comes to a boil.
- If you plan to freeze the ravioli:
- Line the ravioli on baking sheets and place in the freezer.
- Once the ravioli are frozen solid you can store them in airtight freezer bags for about six months.
Cook the pasta:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, about 5 L (5 quarts).
- Add enough salt to the water so that it has a salty taste - similar to seawater.
- Cook the ravioli until al dente - until the pasta is soft but not mushy, and still has a bite to it.
- Use a teardrop strainer to scoop out the pasta; never use a colander for ravioli!
- Homemade ravioli are delicate and a teardrop strainer is the perfect tool to avoid breaking the ravioli.
- Gently fold the ravioli into the sauce pan with the guanciale and sage. I always use large silicone scraping spatulas for this.
Serve the pasta:
- Reheat the chestnut cream and spread a thin layer on each serving dish.
- Top with ravioli, a few pork jowl strips and fried sage leaves.
- Serve immediately.
- Note: Cleaning, cooking and peeling chestnuts: This task is so time-consuming it often keeps me from preparing chestnut dishes. I strongly suggest that you purchase already peeled and cooked chestnuts for this dish. Here's where you can purchase them.
Notes
Nutrition
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