Doppio (two flavored ravioli)
It’s really hard to not love ravioli, those delicate, soft pillows of pasta loaded up with cheese, meat, and all sorts of other goodies. I suppose ravioli are essentially Italy’s version of the Polish perogies or Chinese dumplings.
But have you ever eaten some ravioli and wondered what if it could somehow contain more than just one flavor? That is what I am going to show you today.
Today, I am making Doppio, a special kind of ravioli that has two different fillings loaded into those delicate pasta sheets that make it one of a kind. I am going to make mine with a simple cheese filling and a butternut squash filling, the combination of the two should be exquisite on your palate.
Like any kind of filled pasta, doppio can be served with just about any sauce and garnish that you desire, from a simple brown butter to a light tomato sauce and even to something heartier like a cream sauce.
Andiamo!
Makes 4 servings
For the Pasta:
400g (14oz) 00 flour or all purpose, plus more for dusting
4 large eggs
Salt for the pasta water
For the Butternut Squash filling:
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano
2 tsp finely grated nutmeg
For the Cheese Filling:
1 tub (15oz) whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup finely diced fresh mozzarella
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with foil.
Make the pasta by dumping the flour and eggs into a food processor, then pulsing until combined into a stiff dough. Dump the dough onto a floured surface, then knead for a few minutes, or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest while you make the fillings.
Place the butternut squash cubes onto the baking sheet, toss with oil, salt and pepper, then move to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender and lightly browned.
Clean out the food processor, then add the squash, ricotta, Pecorino and nutmeg. Blend until smooth, taste it and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
To make the cheese filling, simply combine all ingredients in a small bowl, taste it and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Cut the pasta dough into 4 pieces, then use a rolling pin or pasta roller to roll each piece into long, almost see through sheets, leaving any dough you’re not using wrapped in plastic wrap.
To make the doppio, fold the long ends of each pasta sheet towards the center to get an idea of where to fill. Take spoonfuls of both the butternut squash and cheese fillings and place them in dots along either side of the pasta at 1-inch intervals, ensuring the cheese is on one side and the squash is on the other.
Take each side of the pasta and fold it over the fillings, use your fingers to press down the sides and push out the air around the fillings so it’s nice and tight. Use a ravioli cutter to cut into individual squares, then pick up each square, fold the two pockets of filling together, and pinch the two ends of the pasta together.
Repeat this until you’ve used up all of your filling, or until you’ve run out of pasta.
You can cook the doppio right away, or freeze them for a later date.
Now here in the image you can see that I made two pasta doughs, one plain and one purple. I made the purple one using purple sweet potato powder, easily available on Amazon, and you can certainly do that if you wish.
Just divide the pasta dough ingredients in half and add only a few teaspoons of the purple powder, then when you roll the pasta you’ll want to cut sheets of both colors in half, press them against each other, use a rolling pin to squish the colors together before using the pasta roller to get them thin.
However, if you feel like this is too much effort, then just use the plain pasta recipe above.
