While I've made others in the past, this caramelized dried porcini ravioli recipe is the best yet. If you've ever been disappointed in the flavor of your dried porcini you'll want to pay attention as I use a special trick to deepen the flavor of the dried mushrooms you can use with any species you have. If you have bags of dried boletes, porcini and others sitting in the pantry, earmark the recipe to try when you have some time.
I developed this recipe for my appearance on the forthcoming Art Friend podcast on MPR. We spent a day discussing the incredible mushroom illustrations of Alexander Viasmensky currently on exhibit at the Russian Museum of Art in Minneapolis.
A week later I invited the film crew to my house so we could eat some of the mushrooms featured in the exhibit. Knowing how much Russians (and other Eastern Europeans) love Boletus edulis, known as belyĭ grib, белый гриб or white mushrooms, I thought porcini ravioli would be appropriate.
Side note, if you need a laugh, check out the comment section for the identification error at the exhibit that drove me absolutely nuts!
Chef's Tips
- The secret to deep flavor is baking the dried mushrooms after rehydrating as I do with mushroom duxelles. If nothing else, remember the baking trick and try it with the next recipe you make with dried mushrooms.
- Ravioli are a process, but this small batch outlines the most efficient way I know to make them. I've detailed the process meticulously for you with images and a video to make it easy to understand.
- Typically I make ravioli so I can cook them from the freezer later. Ready in a few minutes, they're the perfect thing for unexpected guests and impromptu meals.
- Americans often serve many ravioli as an entree and it can be too much. Serving three or four ravioli as a pasta course in a larger meal makes them extra special, and will give you more meals for your work.
- High quality ricotta cheese makes a difference. Look for Belgioiso or Calabro hand-packed ricotta.
How to Make the Ravioli, Step-by-Step
First the filling is made, and it's the most important part of the process. First you rehydrate the dried mushrooms with water. Although it's counter-intuitive, I don't use the soaking liquid in the filling-trust me here.
Once the mushrooms are softened they're squeezed dry and finely chopped. Next they're added to a pan with cooked shallot and baked until the moisture's evaporated and the flavor's intensified. This should take about 20-30 minutes and is the secret to getting the best flavor.
After the dried mushrooms and shallots are slowly baked and browned, they're cooled and mixed with a handful of fresh herbs, some ricotta and pecorino or parmesan cheese. From here the filling can be made 2-3 days in advance.
How to Make the Ravioli Dough
While the price of eggs is high, there's no better pasta dough than one made with only egg yolks. It's easier to roll out, supple, and resilient. First, mix the yolks, flour and water with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer or by hand.
Once the dough barely comes together, knead it for a few seconds then wrap in cling film and rest for at least 30 minutes. If you have a vacuum sealer, vacuum sealing the dough to rest is ensures there's no crumbly or dry areas.
Rolling Out The Pasta
Once the dough's rested cut off 2 oz portions and roll them thin enough that they can go through the pasta roller. After the third setting, fold the dough into thirds so that it matches the width of the pasta roller. This gives you uniform sheets of dough for the highest yield of ravioli.
Roll the sheet of dough out to the thinnest setting on the pasta machine, trim the edges, then put 6-7 tablespoons of filling on the dough as pictured below. Roll the sheet of dough over to enclose the filling, pressing out air pockets with your fingers.
Roll the sheet of dough over itself one last time and press down between the mounds of filling to ensure the dough seals. Cut the ravioli with a fluted pastry wheel or with a knife, then lay on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal or semolina flour. From here they can be cooked, refrigerated for up to 24 hours, or frozen for 3-4 months.
Brown Butter Mushroom Ravioli Sauce
There's many ways you can serve the ravioli, but simple sauces are the best. I'm going to walk you through the best sauce for mushroom ravioli I know: a simple browned butter sauce with mushrooms and spinach.
It comes together quickly. Start by boiling the ravioli for few minutes in a pot of salted water.
Meanwhile, cook a few tablespoons of unsalted butter until lightly browned. Add a splash of white wine and some chicken stock if you want. To make it creamy, turn the heat down and add an additional tablespoon of butter, whisking until the is sauce glossy and slightly thickened.
Finish the sauce by adding a handful of spinach leaves, sauteed fresh or frozen porcini. Simmered gently for a minute or two, the starch from the pasta will transfer to the sauce, helping it stay creamy.
This is just an example, and many different mushrooms can be used here. The full recipe is described in the recipe card for you to print off or save.
Other Sauces to Serve with the Ravioli
Brown butter sauce is tried and true, but there's many ways to serve filled pasta. Below you'll find a few other ideas of things to serve with ravioli. The full recipes (described in text) are in my list of restaurant quality sauces for ravioli.
Spinach Puree
I puree blanched spinach with a little butter and olive oil to make a sauce for ravioli that's lighter when I don't want to use cream. The ravioli are tossed in olive oil or butter and nestled on a thin mound of the puree to showcase them.
Peroni-Tomato Butter Sauce
An old favorite from when I was sous chef of Il Vesco Vino in St. Paul. Deglaze a pan of shallots with a splash of peroni, add chicken stock, a spoonful of tomato passata and butter, whisking until thickened.
Walnut Salsa di Noci
The richest sauce should be served in small amounts. Ground black walnuts are added to minced garlic cooked in butter, deglazed with white wine and a splash of chicken stock, and simmered with cream.
Related Posts
- Italian Mushroom Soup (Zuppa di Funghi)
- Ligurian Pansotti with Walnut Sauce
- Italian Style Porcini Mushrooms (Funghi Trifolati)
Caramelized Dried Porcini Ravioli
Equipment
- 1 Pasta roller I like the kitchen aid attachment
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Utility knife
- 1 Fluted dough cutter
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 1 quart mixing bowl
- 1 10 inch stainless steel saute pan
Ingredients
Mushroom Ravioli Filling
- 6 oz ricotta cheese preferably Belgioioso or Calabro brand
- 4 oz grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
- 5 oz dried porcini or other dried mushrooms
- 3 oz 1 large shallot, finely diced
- 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano chopped optional
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
Ravioli Pasta Dough
- 8 oz all purpose flour or high gluten flour plus another spoonful for kneading and rolling out the dough
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup water separated
- ¼ cup Coarse cornmeal or semolina flour for sprinkling on the baking sheet
- 2 Tbsp Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting the baking sheet
Brown Butter Sauce for Ravioli (optional)
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter separated
- ¼ cup Dry white wine
- ¼ cup Chicken stock optional
- 1 small handful Fresh spinach leaves
- 4 oz Sauteed fresh mushrooms optional
- 2 Tbsp Grated pecorino or parmigiano reggiano cheese
Instructions
Dried Porcini Ravioli Filling
- Cover the mushrooms in cold water, stir, press the mushrooms under the water and rehydrate for 15 minutes. Strain the mushrooms, squeeze dry and reserve the liquid for another purpose.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Mince the mushrooms with a heavy chefs knife and reserve.
- Heat the oil in a 10 inch pan, add the shallot and a pinch and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt to taste, stir, and transfer the pan to the oven.
- Bake the mushrooms for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and the flavor has deepened. Remove the mushrooms to a 1 quart mixing bowl to cool.
- Mix the mushrooms with the remaining filling ingredients, double check the seasoning for salt and pepper, adjust until it tastes good to you and reserve.
Ravioli Pasta Dough
- In a stand mixer or in a bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add the egg yolks and water, working the dough with the paddle attachment until it just starts to clump and come together.
- Remove the dough and knead for 30 seconds until smooth dough forms. Wrap the dough in cling film and rest for 30 minutes. If your dough seems crumbly, vacuum seal it to improve the texture.
Assembly
- Cut off a two ounce piece of dough and roll it out on a floured surface until it can pass through the widest setting on a pasta machine.
- Roll the sheet of dough out a few times, then fold it in thirds so it matches the width of the pasta roller.
- Roll the sheet of dough out to the thinnest setting. Trim any rough edges to make a rectangle.
- Evenly space tablespoons of filling on the dough, brushing with a wet finger between each mound of filling.
- Fold the dough over, press out as much air as you can, trying not to stretch the dough. Fold the dough over again, pressing down in between each mound of dough to help the pasta seal.
- Cut the ravioli with a fluted pastry cutter and transfer to a large baking sheet dusted with cornmeal.
- Cook the ravioli in boiling salted water until just tender throughout, about 2-3 minutes.
Optional Brown Butter Sauce
- Saute a few mushrooms (4 oz) in oil until lightly browned and reserve.
- Melt two tablespoons of the butter in a stainless steel or non-stick pan and heat on medium until lightly browned.
- Deglaze the pan with the wine and chicken stock, bring to a simmer, then add rest of the butter, tilting the pan and whisking to dissolve it. Turn the heat to medium, and then off when the butter is melted.
- Add the spinach leaves to the pan and heat gently to wilt. Add the cooked ravioli, along with a spoonful (2-3 tablespoons) of pasta water and simmer until tender.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning, then serve immediately in warm bowls. If the sauce becomes too thick adjust the consistency with splashes of cool water.
LaRae
Rich and decadent!
Pixie
I'm intrigued by your idea of deepening dried mushroom flavors. I'd like to try steps 1-5 using Sweet Tooth Hedgehog (Hydnum umbilicatum) in a brown butter sauce or delicate cream sauce on egg noodles or capellini. They're so fragrant! Sometimes, I open the tin they're stored in just to inhale the wildwood aromatherapy.
Alan Bergo
Hi Pixie. Hedgehogs and chanterelles are tougher when they're dried and rehydrated than porcini and lots of others. For most things I will powder those or discard them after they make broth, personally. But, since they'll be finely chopped in the filling, if I had to use them in a dish where they'll be chewed, it would be something like a filling as it's easier for me to control the texture by mincing them very fine.
Ben Rosen
Can you rehydrate the mushrooms in a liquid besides water ?
JudyK
What an inspiring post! A perfect way to spend a snow-bound winter's afternoon, especially if one can enlist a partner to assist with stuffing the ravioli. I get together with friends in the Fall and we set up a "ravioli factory" in one person's garage...usually 4 pasta machines are enlisted to roll dough for a big bowl of sausage-mushroom-spinach filling. This past October we made over 750 ravioli in an afternoon...needless to say, I have plenty of those stockpiled in my freezer right now! I look forward to trying out some of your sauce ideas as we work through that bounty, and I dream of foraging porcini mushrooms next year!
David Griggs
Once again, you have filled me with awe. I have never attempted pasta from scratch, but you present in a way that I would be willing to try.
This looks like the perfect way to use up a bounty of dehydrated porcinis in the spring.......I was wondering your opinion on replacing the spinach with a combination of nettles and ramp greens.
Thank you for all your hard work, effort, and attention to detail. Your weekly post has been a part of my Saturday morning coffee time for years.
Alan Bergo
Thanks David.
Alan Bergo
The error in the exhibit. They had a beautiful illustration labeled as "Morchella elata", but it was obviously a picture of Verpa bohemica. When I called it out, the people from MPR reached out the artist's intermediary in St. Petersburg for a comment. Alexander replied something to the tune of "Alan is partially correct, these are actually Morchella exuberans (a black morel) and they grow with fire and disturbance". I found it pretty silly that they would mis-identify the state mushroom of Minnesota, complete with a plaque and everything. Either way the exhibit is awesome and the best mushroom botanical works I've seen. It should be in town at the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis until Jan 9 2025.
Nicole Novak
Alan, to wake up to this recipe was a true highlight! I have at least 50 half gallon jars of dried porcini in my pantry. I know where some of them are going now. Thanks for a magnificent recipe!
Alan Bergo
Hey thanks Nicole. Let me know how you like it.
Lorenzo Tavani
This is dope. Forsure inspired to make some of my own for the first time. The roasting your rehydrated mushrooms is a slick move too! 🤙
Alan Bergo
Thanks buddy. I was going to mail you some of the hot pepper salt but I sold out of 40 jars in under 2 hours last week.
Gene
I just put a couple of missing ingredients on the shopping list. Time to get dehydrated porcinis on the table. Porcini stem’s don’t seem to rehydrate well. OK to use or should the stems be kept out?
Alan Bergo
Stems are fine as they’ll be finely minced.