Asparagus Ravioli

Contributed by: Jim Fix

This is inspired by a PBS chef I watched one weekend. I would recommend making the filling earlier in the day and assembling and cooking the ravioli while your guests are around so they can watch you sweat. With practice, assembly and cooking can be done in less than an hour.
Ingredients

Ravioli Pasta: 2 eggs worth of semolina pasta dough
1/3 cup egg wash (1 beaten egg + water)
Ravioli Filling: 3 inch diameter bundle of asparagus
1/2 cup of mushrooms, chopped
1/3 cup of spinach, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup of leek, chopped
salt, pepper
1-2 tbs olive oil
Sauce: 3 cups of pureed tomatoes
6 leaves of fresh basil, chopped
3 cloves garlic
3 tbs of olive oil
salt, pepper to taste
1 cup blanched asparagus tips (from ravioli filling)

Filling

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Sautee garlic and leek until garlic turns slightly brown. Add mushrooms. When mushrooms are starting to get soft, add spinach. Cook until spinach is limp.

In a pot of boiling water, blanch the asparagus for 1-2 minutes (until flexible but crisp). Remove from water and drain. Cut off the tips and save for sauce below. Chop the remaining stems into 1/4 inch length pieces. Save a third of these for texture in the filling.

Toss the remaining chopped asparagus and the sauteed mixture into a food processor and blend. Mix in parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, ricotta, and the saved texture asparagus.

Sauce

Heat olive oil in saucepan at medium heat. Sautee the garlic in the oil until roasted brown, then crush. Add the tomato puree and simmer. Salt and pepper to taste. In the last 5 minutes of simmering, add basil and asparagus tips.

Pasta

Roll out pasta to machine thickness 6. Cut into rectangular sheets (6"x4" is a good size). Place spoonfuls of filling onto a sheet (2 or 3), leaving room to cut ravioli shapes. You should leave about an inch pasta border around each glob of filling. Wipe egg wash in between the globs, then lay a second sheet on top, sealing the filling. Cut into ravioli with a knife or lasagna cutting tool. Experiment with the shapes -- they can be circles, squares, triangles, or monkeys. I prefer 2" x 4" rectangles.

Cook ravioli for 3 minutes in boiling water. They should float to the top when finished.

It's best to serve them immediately to your guests, as they cool quickly. Scoop them out of the water with a slotted spoon, toss them on a plate, slather the sauce (be fair with the asparagus tips), add a sprinkle of cheese, and serve.

Words of Warning

There are two things that can go wrong in preparation that should be avoided.

dry & hard-to-assemble pasta: This happens if you wait too long between the rolling and assembly phases. If you don't assemble immediately after rolling the dough, store sheets between parchment and cover the stack with a moist towel.
holes or tears due to stuck ravioli: Once a ravioli is assembled, generously dust it with wheat flour. and place them individually on a plate or wax paper.