Ravioli di Pesce ai Frutti di Mare

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Ravioli di Pesce ai Frutti di Mare

                    It’s perfect for special occasions like Valentine’s Day

Ingredients

For the ravioli filling

  • 1 kg fresh fish (bream, grouper, snapper or seabass) (2lbs) I used 1 small bream and 1 small snapper

  • 1-2 garlic cloves peeled and chopped

  • 1 tsp fresh rosemary chopped

  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

  • 2-3 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano grated

  • 1 tsp fresh marjoram or dried

  • 1-2 eggs depending on how much fish you have

  • extra virgin olive oil. as required

For the pasta dough

  • 200-300 g Italian 00 soft wheat flour (7-10oz) or all-purpose flour, depending how much ravioli you want to make.

  • 2-3 eggs 1 egg per 100g of flour (3.5oz)

  • 1 pinch salt

For the seafood sauce

  • 1 onion peeled and finely chopped

  • 200 g calamari (7oz) fresh or frozen

  • 500 g fresh clams (1lb)

  • 500 g fresh mussels (1lb)

  • 200 g prawns or shrimps (7oz) fresh or frozen

  • 2 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped

  • 1 handful fresh parsley chopped

  • 1/2 glass dry white wine

  • 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

Instructions

Prepare the fish and the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 200c/400F. If your fish hasn’t been cleaned by the fishmonger you’ll haveto remove the intestines. Clean the fish, rinse it and put it in a roasting pan with ¼ cup olive oil, put half the garlic and the rosemary inside the fish. Cook the fish for about 15-20 minutes depending on the size.

  2. When the fish is cooked through, let it cool a little and then cut away the meat, making sure there are no bones in it or skin. Put the fish meat in a bowl with the rest of the garlic, some more chopped parsley, marjoram and the grated cheese. Add one egg. If the mixture seems dry add the second egg. Mix everything together well to create a firm filling. Set aside.

Make the pasta dough and ravioli

  1. Put the flour in a mound into a bowl, onto a wooden pastry board or in your stand mixer. If using a bowl or wooden board create a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs (usually unbeaten) and the salt. Using a fork first beat the eggs and then with the same fork or a pastry scraper bring flour from the edges of the mound into the centre until the eggs are no longer runny.

  2. Then start to knead the dough and continue until you have a homogeneous dough that is only slightly sticky to touch. If the dough is dry add a little water and knead some more. Form the dough into a ball and leave it to rest for 20-30 minutes covered with a tea towel or covered in plastic wrap. I used my kitchen stand mixer to start the dough but finished kneading on my pastry board.

  3. After the dough is ready roll it into thin sheets a couple of millimeters thick with a rolling pin or with the help of a pasta machine. There are two ways you can create the ravioli. We placed scant tablespoons of filling evenly spaced on one side of the pasta sheet and then folded the other half over them.

  4. Some people use 2 pasta sheets. They place the filling evenly spaced on one and then cover with the other. Either way, then press down with your fingers around each filling and then cut out the ravioli squares using a pasta wheel. Let the ravioli sit for about an hour before cooking.

Make the seafood sauce.

  1. After washing the clams and mussels well (the mussels will need the ‘beards’ removed, put them in a large pan and let them open over a low flame.  Once they are open, remove the mollusks, discard any that haven’t opened and filter the liquid they have created through a fine mesh or muslin cloth. I often use a fine tea towel.

  2. Shell the shrimps if needed and clean the squid. Cut the calamari  into small rings or strips (we discarded the tentacles for this recipe) and saute them in a frying pan with some olive oil and the chopped onion and garlic. After 5 minutes add the shrimps. Sauté together for a couple more minutes then add the white wine. Let the alcohol evaporate and then add theclams and mussels, some chopped parsley and a little of the filtered liquid from the mollusks. Cook a little longer until the liquid has reduced.

Finish the dish

  1. Cook the ravioli in boiling salted water when you are ready to serve. Depending on the size, they take about 5 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon rather than using a colander.  You can also freeze the uncooked fish ravioli and cook from frozen later. When the ravioli are cooked, plate them and dress with the seafood sauce. Serve immediately.