When I asked my girlfriend what she wanted for her Valentines Day dinner, she told me “Heart-shaped Ravioli with a Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo. At first, I thought she was crazy. Buying them premade somewhere was absolutely out of the question and I had never made either one before. So I did a little research on the web and found Tyler Florence’s recipe, “Pasta Dough for Ravioli”. This looked fairly easy. The recipe is very easy to follow. However, I do recommend that you have the use of a stand mixer and a pasta machine to make it easier. You can get by without them, but it will take you quite a bit longer.

It took me a good bit of time to figure out what I was going to fill the ravioli with. If I was going to go all out and make this from scratch, it was going to be extraordinary. What would really make this dish? I decided on a filling of spinach, ricotta cheese, and ground sage sausage. It was amazing!

I would recomend making the filling first and allowing it to cool in the fridge. This way it will be ready once you are done making the ravioli.

Sausage, Spinach, and Ricotta Filling

Ingredients

• 16 oz  whole milk ricotta cheese
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach
• 2 cups ground sage sausage

Brown the sausage, making sure to break it up into very small crumbles. Season with a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Drain the fat and set aside to cool. Cook the spinach, drain to remove all excess water. Put your ground sausage, chopped spinach, and ricotta cheese into a blender or food processor. You will want to blend it until it has the consistency and look of a very thick pesto sauce. Cover and refrigerate. This will make alot of filling. I usually will just reserve whatever I have left over for other dishes. It would be an excellent filling in a lasagna or manicotti.

Making the Ravioli

For the sake of brevity, I won’t type out the recipe for the ravioli dough. You can use the link listed in the intro or click here. Once you have made the dough and allowed it to sit in a ball for about 30 minutes, you can proceed. Roll a potion of the dough out very thin on a floured flat surface. You want to get the dough to be less than one-eighth of an inch thick. The thicker the dough, the longer it will take to cook. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many ravioli as you wish to make. Remmber it will take two hearts to make the ravioli.

Make an eggwash using one egg and a tablespoon of warm water. Brush the bottom heart with the egg wash, then add a small amount of the filling. Place the second heart on the top, making sure to remove any excess air. Press along the edges with the tines of a fork to ensure a good seal. Repeat as many times as necessary. Place into a large zippered plastic bag and allow to cool in the fridge until they are ready to be cooked. It will only take approximately 5 mintues to cook in boiling water. They will float to the top when they are done.

Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter (half a stick)
• 1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 6 oz parmesean cheese (grated)
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato halves (julienned)
• salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. While the butter is melting, put the garlic, heavy cream, and sun-dried tomatos into the blender. Blend for 1-2 mintues, making sure all the ingredients are mixed. Add the mixture from the blender into the butter and add the parmesean cheese. Simmer for 1-2 minute, whisking constantly. Pour over cooked ravioli and serve.

Heart-shaped Ravioli with Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo (The picture does it no justice)