Oh, be still my heart-shaped ravioli.
Here it is. The lengthy process in full photo-detail. Many steps, but certainly worth the effort.
Since this was my first time attempting fresh pasta, it was all about trial and error. In honor of the occasion, I used fluted, heart-shaped cookie cutters in lieu of a ravioli cutter. I rolled mine by hand, (which secretly made me want to come back in another life as an old Italian woman), but it was very difficult to get it as thin as I would’ve liked. Note to self: Invest in a pasta attachment for my mixer to help me flatten the dough.
The creamy, crabmeat sauce was truly restaurant quality, and the filling was light and heavenly. The actual recipe called for fancy items like lobster and snow crab, but there was no way I was going to boil a live crustacean on a day of love. Therefore, I used pre-cooked imitation lobster meat and pre-cooked lump crabmeat, (you won’t tell anyone, right?) and it was still out of this world.
That’s SO Jenn’s Tip: If you have leftover sauce and filling, mix it with rice and top with parmesan for a filling, risotto-style dish.
For Filling
Ingredients:
2 oz. unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped shallots
16 oz. cooked lobster meat (I used two 8oz. packages pre-cooked imitation lobster meat)
4 oz. cooked snow crabmeat (I used Chicken of the Sea lump crabmeat, and yes, I thought of Jessica Simpson)
2 oz. cognac
2 oz. ricotta
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped chives
Instructions:
For Filling
Melt butter in a large pan.
Add garlic and shallot and saute until golden brown.
Add lobster, crab, and chives and saute 2 to 3 minutes.
Add cognac and reduce for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat. Cool for 30 minutes, until room temperature. Chop lobster mixture into small chunks.
In a large bowl, combine lobster mixture and ricotta and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
For Pasta Dough
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Thoroughly sift together all-purpose flour, semolina flour, and pinch of salt.
On a clean surface (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl), make a well in the center for the eggs.
Drop the eggs into the well and add olive oil. Crack eggs in a separate bowl first. This helps you avoid digging shell out of a pile of flour if they don’t break evenly.
Whisk eggs very gently with a fork, gradually incorporating flour from both sides of the well.
When mixture becomes too thick to mix with a fork, begin kneading with your hands. (I used the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer.) Knead for 8 to 12 minutes.
Cover with plastic wrap. Let dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Roll out dough to desired thickness. I found separating it into two mounds made it easier to work with. Flipping it to alternate sides in between the rolling helped too.
Using a ravioli cutter, or cookie cutters, create desired shape. Lay cutouts on your workspace.
Place a small mound of filling in the center of half your cutouts, leaving the rest plain.
Brush egg whites around filling to lightly dampen the dough.
Cover the topped sheets with the plain cutouts to make a sandwich.
Gently push down on the top layer and pinch the top and bottom edges together. Using a fork, press down to seal the filling.
Boil in salted water for 1-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough.
FOR CRABMEAT CREAM SAUCE:
Ingredients:
2 oz. unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped shallots
4 oz. whole chunk Maryland crabmeat (I used Chicken of the Sea pre-cooked lump crabmeat)
2 oz. cognac
5 oz. tomato sauce (I used a can of Tuttorosso)
10 oz. heavy cream
Salt
Chives for garnish
Instructions:
Melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until translucent.
Add crabmeat and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add cognac. A flame should form, although I admit my experience was uneventful.
Cook off alcohol and add tomato sauce, cream and salt.
Cook until it reduces half way and becomes creamy.
Add cooked ravioli to the sauce and let simmer for about 1 minute before serving. Garnish with chives.
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12 Comments
some weekend when I have nothing else to do I am absolutely trying this! They look so good!
looks so good! I want to try this recipe!!
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I stumbled upon this exciting recipe when roaming pinterest for lobster ravioli recipes and decided that this is the one I want to make. I just have a few questions. My understanding is that, as an entree, lobster is served in one pound per person. I’m guessing I could definitely get two servings out of it when I make it. My first question is: how many servings did you get when you made it?
My second question deals with how many ravioli you got after you finished assembling them. I know it’ll ultimately depend on the size of the ravioli/cookie cutter. Yours look similar in size to the ones served at Olive Garden (a little bit smaller than the size of my palm), which leads me to my questions: how many ravioli were made after assembly, and about how big were the ones you made?
They look absolutely mouth-watering, and I look forward to trying out the recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for reading That’s SO Jenn! I’m glad you’re here!
My answer for this is a little tricky. The filling technically makes 4 servings, but to be honest I only made about 8 ravioli because it was just for my husband and I. The remaining filling was excellent with rice and the sauce the next day, as I described in my post.
You’re absolutely correct that the size of the ravioli will depend on the cutter you use. Mine were rather large which is another reason I only made 8.
I highly recommend using a pasta roller if you have access to one because it’s very difficult to achieve the necessary thinness by hand. Also, the thicker the dough, the longer time it needs to cook through.
I hope that helps a bit! Feel free to email me with any other questions at thatssojenn@gmail.com.
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Happy Eating!
Jenn
Thank you much for your help! I can’t wait to make them!
My pleasure! Enjoy! 🙂
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Is there anything I could make ahead of time? (If I’m making this for dinner tonight?)
Hi Mary, I just noticed my response never posted the other day!! Did you end up making it? In the future, you can definitely make the sauce and filling ahead of time! Always feel free to contact me at thatssojenn@gmail.com. Thanks so much! Happy eating! 🙂
Hi! I just noticed you responded all those years ago haha. I am still coming back to this recipe every year! My husband loves this dish so I make it every year on our anniversary. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!