Elle and Alessandro’s buffalo ricotta ravioli with sage and rosemary butter

‘This recipe includes two fillings — buffalo ricotta and spinach, and ricotta and buffalo mince — served together with the herb butter. Exact quantities don’t really exist in Italy but a rough guide for the dough is 100 g (3½ oz/⅔ cup) flour to 1 egg.’

Elizabeth Farr and Alessandro Pezzella, retail customers

Feeds: 6 | Preparation time: 2 hours | Cooking time: 10 minutes
Special equipment: A pasta roller or a rolling pin

1 bunch silverbeet (stalks trimmed) or spinach, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve

2 garlic cloves, 1 crushed

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) buffalo ricotta (or cow’s milk ricotta)

Grated nutmeg, to taste

250 g (9 oz) minced buffalo or beef

Finely grated parmesan, to serve

Pasta dough

400 g (14 oz/2⅔ cups) pasta (“00”) flour or plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

4 eggs, beaten

Sage butter sauce

125 g (4½ oz) butter

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 handful sage leaves, coarsely chopped

1 handful rosemary leaves, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

To make the dough, mix flour, eggs and a large pinch of salt together in a bowl, then knead for 10 minutes until dough springs back easily. Add extra flour or water as needed. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Blanch silverbeet in a large saucepan of boiling salted water with a splash of olive oil and 1 garlic clove for 2–3 minutes or until soft. Drain well, then chop very finely — you should have about 250 g (9 oz). Combine with half the ricotta and a pinch of nutmeg.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. Add mince and crushed garlic, season with salt and pepper, and fry, stirring occasionally, for 10–12 minutes until browned. Cool, then combine with remaining ricotta and a pinch of nutmeg.

Cut off a quarter of the dough, dust it with flour and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 3 mm (⅛ in) thick. Alternatively, use a pasta roller, starting on the widest setting and reducing settings notch by notch until 3 mm (⅛ in) thick (dust with flour as you go). Place small dollops of filling in a line along the sheet, 5 cm (2 in) apart and slightly off-centre. Brush edges with a wet finger, then fold pasta over, pushing out any air. Cut into squares, then seal with your fingers. Place on a floured surface and repeat with remaining dough and fillings.

For the sauce, combine butter and oil in a frying pan over low–medium heat. Add herbs and garlic, season, and cook, swirling occasionally, for 5 minutes or until herbs are just starting to crisp.

Meanwhile, cook ravioli in batches in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes or until al dente. Toss in sage butter sauce and serve topped with parmesan and olive oil.