Raviole Di Valle Varaita (Potato Pasta with Creamy Butter Sauce)
Today, I am going to take you to the Varaita Valley, one of the farthest West points in Italy and close to the French border, and show you a celebration dish that can easily be made at home, raviole. Not to be confused with ravioli, raviole are cigar-shaped potato gnocchi that are often served in a very simple sauce made with brown butter, cream, and cheese, essentially an upscale alfredo sauce.
This dish is often served for special occasions such as baptisms and engagement parties, as the copious amount of butter used in this dish makes it a real treat.
Raviole are traditionally made with a soft and creamy cow’s milk cheese called tomino di Melle, giving the dumplings a very light texture and slightly tangy flavor. However, this cheese is pretty hard to find the further you get from the Varaita Valley, so any soft cheese, such as goat’s cheese or mascarpone, will work well for this.
Raviole Di Valle Varaita
Serves 4
For the Raviole:
2 pounds of starchy potatoes such as Russets
7 ounces of soft fresh cheese (goat’s cheese or mascarpone are perfect examples.)
9 ounces of flour, plus more for dusting
Salt
For the Sauce:
3 ounces of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of cream
A handful of grated parmesan cheese, for serving
Place the whole potatoes, skin and all, into a saucepan or stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, add a generous amount of salt, then boil for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are very tender.
Remove the potatoes from the water, you can save that water to cook the raviole later, let them cool until you can handle them easily without burning your hands, then either pass the potatoes through a ricer or remove the skin and mash with a potato masher.
Stir in the soft cheese and the flour until you get a tacky, crumbly dough. Season to taste; it is potatoes, so a good amount of salt is required. Then, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently bring the dough together into a smooth ball. You do not want to knead this dough as it can make the finished raviole rather chewy.
Cut the dough into fist-sized pieces, then roll each piece to a breadstick thickness (1/2 inch). Cut the lengths into 3-inch pieces, then roll each piece to a 2 1/2 inch length with a spindle shape.
Bring the water used to cook the potatoes back to a gentle boil then, working in batches, cook the raviole until they all float to the top of the water. Any cooked raviole can be removed with a slotted spoon, then placed onto a serving platter placed in a low oven to stay warm.
To make the sauce, fry the butter in a small pan until it smells nutty and you can see brown specs all throughout. Turn off the heat, add the cream, then stir to combine and to warm the cream. Pour the butter and cream mixture over the raviole, then top with a generous handful of grated parmesan.
So, I had never made raviole before writing this article, but now that I have, I would definitely do it again.
The raviole are incredibly soft and light with a slight tangy creaminess from that soft cheese, but then that nutty, creamy brown butter comes in with the parmesan for a flavor that is out of this world!
