Fantastic Firsts -Ravioli Parmagiana by Chef Paolo Barrale

I had the chance to see Chef Barrale of Marennà prepare this fantastic first course during our cooking lesson last month.

Ingredients for 4

For the filling:  2 Neapolitan eggplants, 300 g of San Marzano Tomatoes, 100 g fiordilatte, 20 gr of grated parmigiano, basil, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil

For the egg pasta: 150 g flour (00), 150 g ground semolina, 9 egg yolks

Directions:

For the pasta:  Mix the flour, semolina and egg yolks in a bowl.  Let rest to the side.

For the filling:  Peel the eggplant and cut into cubes.  Sprinkle with a little salt in order to get rid of the excess water. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the eggplant.  Place the fried cubes on a paper towel to drain.

Peel and cut the tomatoes.  Eliminate the seeds.  Brown garlic clove in a pan with a little oil, then add the tomatoes and a few leaves of basil.  Let the sauce thicken, then place to the side.  Cut the fiordilatte into cubes, squeezing them in order to get rid of the excess milk that you need to conserve to complete the dish.  Combine the fiordilatte, eggplant, and sauce together in a container.  Add the grated Parmigiano cheese.

Heat the eggplant, sauce, and fiordilatte over low heat.  If necessary, add a little basil.  Let cool for about 2 hours.

Roll out the past dough, and with a pasta cutter/mold cut 8 disks.  Using the pasta cutter as a guide, place the eggplant mixture on top of the pasta.  Brush the edges of the pasta with egg and place another pasta disk on top.  Press the edges; indent the sides with a fork, and fold, so that the filling does not come out.

Cook the ravioli in salt water for 2/3 minutes. Drain carefully making sure that the ravioli does not break. 

Plating:

Place the ravioli in the center of a pasta dish. Place two spoonfuls of mozzarella milk, a basil leaf, and eggplant chips.


This dish was paired with Campanaro Irpinia Bianco DOC 2010.