Spinach Ricotta Ravioli with Lemon-Dill Beurre Blanc

Beurre blanc is a classic French butter sauce, enlivened in this recipe with the addition of fresh dill. Delicious over any kind of grilled fish, it's also a wonderful sauce served over fresh ravioli or agnolotti. The key to keeping the sauce emulsified is to use cold butter and whisk it in a bit at a time. You can make these lovely little parcels by hand, or as a shortcut you can also buy fresh handmade ravioli, which I did, for a quick, easy and delicious dinner.



Spinach Ricotta Ravioli with Lemon-Dill Beurre Blanc
Serves 4-6

Pasta:
6 oz ‘00’ flour, plus extra to dust
8 1/2 oz fine semolina
5 large eggs

Spinach Ricotta Filling:
1 1/3 lb cooked spinach, squeezed as dry as possible and finely chopped
1 1/3 lb ricotta 
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg yolk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lemon-Dill Beurre Blanc:
1 cup dry white wine
1 large shallot, finely diced, about 1/3 cup
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 tsp fresh lemon juice, more to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


To make the pasta, heap the flour and semolina together on a floured worktop, make a well in the middle, break the eggs into the well and beat them with a fork, slowly incorporating the flour and semolina to form a dough. Knead until you have a smooth-textured dough with an even colour. If the dough is too dry, wet your hands with water while kneading. Cover the dough with clingfilm and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

To make the filling, combine the spinach, ricotta, nutmeg, salt, pepper and egg yolk in a bowl. Mix well, season and set aside.

Divide the dough into four equal portions. Using a pasta machine, gradually roll the dough until you have thin sheets, dusting with flour if needed between each pass through the machine. Put small heaps of filling, about 1 teaspoon at 2-inch intervals across the pasta sheet and dampen the pasta around each heap. Lay a second sheet over the top and press down around the filling to expel any air. Cut with round or square ravioli cutter and press gently around each ravioli to seal.

For the lemon-dill beurre blanc sauce, begin by cooking the wine and shallot in a medium saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the wine almost evaporates and looks glazy, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter a couple of cubes at a time until melted and the sauce is thick and creamy, then briefly return the pan to low heat if the butter is slow to melt. Off the heat, stir in the dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt, and several grinds of pepper. Season to taste with more lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Set over low heat to keep warm. This recipe makes 3/4 cup.

Cook the ravioli in a large pan of boiling salted water, and cook 2-3 minutes. When the ravioli is ready, drain, keeping two or three tablespoons of the cooking water, return it to its saucepan with the retained cooking water and add the sauce. Take the saucepan off the heat and serve the pasta immediately with shaved Parmesan and extra dill for garnish.