Sweet pea ravioli with gorgonzola cream & burnt butter

(Ravioli di piselli e ricotta con fonduta di gorgonzola e burro fuso)

Serves 6 (makes approximately 60 ravioli)

The Pendolino and La Rosa Bar and Pizza restaurants are set in one of Sydney’s most beautiful buildings, the Strand Arcade. The only remaining Victorian-era arcade in Sydney, it houses an eclectic and boutique mix of artisan jewellers, leather craftsmen and accomplished Australian fashion designers. We have initiated a range of special events in the restaurants that have been enormously popular, including a ‘meet the designer’ lunch. This is a pasta dish that I created for one of these events. It was a knockout hit and we periodically feature it as one of our seasonal specials.

135 ml (4½ fl oz) vegetable broth

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

35 g (1¼ oz) salted butter, chopped, plus extra 100 g (3½ oz) for burnt butter

½ small onion, finely diced

3 thyme sprigs, picked

1 garlic clove, finely diced

750 g (1 lb 10 oz) peas in the pod, yielding about 260 g (9¼ oz) fresh peas

165 g (5¾ oz/²/₃ cup) fresh ricotta cheese

90 g (3¼ oz/1 cup) freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus extra, to serve

fine sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) fresh egg pasta dough

fine semolina, for dusting

300 ml (10½ fl oz) cream

150 g (5½ oz) gorgonzola cheese, chopped

Heat the vegetable broth in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then turn off the heat. Heat the extra virgin olive oil and butter in a separate large saucepan over low–medium heat and cook the onion, thyme and garlic until soft. Add the peas and vegetable broth. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil quickly. Take off the heat and transfer the mixture to a food processor. Pulse into a rough purée (you still want some texture from the peas). Allow to cool. Mix with the ricotta cheese and 65 g (2¼ oz) of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and season with the sea salt and black pepper, to taste.

To make the ravioli, roll the pasta dough into sheets of less than 1 mm (¹/₃₂ inch) thickness. Brush one sheet lightly with water and place ½ tablespoon measures of the pea mixture roughly 5 cm (2 inches) apart. Place another sheet on top, pressing around the mixture to remove air bubbles (this step is essential). With a round roller or jagged-edged cutter, cut out square ravioli (or whichever shape you desire), dust lightly with the semolina and place on trays lined with non-stick baking paper.

To make the sauce, pour the cream into a small saucepan and reduce by a third over medium heat. Add the gorgonzola cheese and the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and stir occasionally until the cheeses melt. Make this sauce as close to serving as possible.

For the burnt butter, simply heat the extra butter in a saucepan over medium–high heat until it starts to go dark golden.

To serve, cook the ravioli in abundant salted boiling water until they rise to the surface. Drain and serve with the gorgonzola cream, burnt butter and extra Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.