Mushroom Ravioli In A Parmesan Cream Sauce

To Make The Filling

1. Heat a 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium-sized pan, once hot add the finely chopped shallots and saute until soft and translucent (photo 1).
2. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook down until reduced in size and softened. Add the garlic and thyme and a good pinch of salt and pepper, fry for 1-2 minutes (photos 2 -4). Set aside and let cool for 5 minutes.
3. Add the cooled mushroom mixture to a food processor with parmesan and ricotta. Blitz intil smooth and pate like (photo 5 & 6).

Assembly

1. To Make homemade egg pasta dough follow this recipe here and follow the process for rolling out. There are some essential tips you need.
2. Using homemade pasta dough, roll it out from the widest setting to the third last setting (usually number 7). Lay one sheet of pasta down and place around 1 heaped tsp of mushroom mixture in the middle of the pasta sheet 1 inch apart (photo 7).
3. Fold one edge of the pasta over the filling to meet the other edge. You may need to gently pat the filling down at this point so it folds easier. Using your fingers seal the sides of the ravioli filling as shown (photo 8 & 9).
4. Tip: Technically these are called mezzalune (half moons) because they are folded over and don't have four sealed edges. These are slightly easier to make for this reason but if you want to make traditional ravioli simply place the second sheet of pasta directly on top of the first and seal with your fingers.
5. Seal the top of the dough with your thumb whilst holding the two edges as shown in photo 10. This will ensure all the air has escaped which will stop the ravioli bursting or going wrinkly.
6. Cut the ravioli out either with a ravioli or pasta cutter, cookie cutter or fluted pasta wheel and set aside on a surface sprinkled lightly with semolina or 00 flour whilst you make the next batch (photos 11 & 12)
7. Once the Ravioli (or mezzalune) are ready bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli to the water and cook for around 4 minutes. Meanwhile make the sauce.

To Make The Sauce

1. Heat a little olive oil in a large pan and fry the chopped garlic for 1 minute. Add the cream, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil (photos 13 & 14).
2. Let it boil for 30-40 seconds then turn low and add the freshly grated parmesan. Stir until slightly thickened turn off the heat and add the cooked ravioli straight from the water using a slotted spoon (photo 15).
3. Toss in the sauce and serve.