It is so nice being married to a man who loves to cook!  As much as I like being in the kitchen, it truly is great to come home to a delicious homemade meal.

And tonight’s homemade meal really was a show-stopper!

The recipe concept came from Giada De Laurentis.  The result is pure Victor!

Giada’s recipe is a spinach and ricotta roll that she puts under a broiler and serves with a marinara dipping sauce as an appetizer.

Victor reworked it to a baked entree.  A much better idea, if ya ask me.  Granted, I’m just a bit biased as I was the recipient of the entree, but… that’s just the way of it!

Giada’s recipe calls for the pasta to be made in a  food processor.  Victor made his by hand because he has totally mastered the art of pasta making.  Like bread making or anything else, recipes give you quantities of ingredients, but it’s the feel of the dough that makes it work.  It’s why your grandmother could never tell you exactly how she made a pie crust or a rolled dumpling – she just did it and knew when it was right.

Ricotta Rollatini

Pasta:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • water, if needed

Filling:

  • 4 oz diced prosciutto
  • 4  cups whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Locatelli
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 minced flat-leaf parsley
  • freshly ground black pepper

Make pasta.

Mound flour on counter and make well.  Add eggs and yolks and gradually work in the flour to make a firm but pliable dough, adding a few drops of water, if necessary.  Divide into two pieces, cover, and let rest about 30 minutes.

Make filling:

Fry prosciutto until crisp.  Drain and set aside.

Mix ricotta, eggs, cheese, pepper, and parsley.  Stir in cooled prosciutto.  Set aside.

Roll pasta to a 15″ x 7″ rectangle.  If you have a pasta roller, bring it through to about 15″ on level three and then roll it width-wise to about 7″.

Spread half of filling on pasta sheet and brush ends and edge with egg.  Roll jelly-roll style and seal ends and edge.

Repeat with second roll.

Wrap each pasta log in cheesecloth and tie ends with kitchen twine.

Lower into barely-boiling water and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove from water and place on racks to cool.

Remove cheesecloth and slice each roll into 3/4″ slices.

Cover bottom of baking dish with marinara sauce and lay out slices.  Drizzle with marinara and sprinkle with additional grated Locatelli.

Cover with foil and bake until heated though – about 30 minutes at 350°.

Serve with additional sauce, if desired.

This is one of those creations that just works on every level.  Rich, creamy, just-salty-enough from the cheese and the prosciutto.  Victor didn’t add any salt to the filling, at all.  The pasta was perfectly al dente.

Cooking hint:  If you have a fish poacher (thank you, Ruth!) it will make cooking them much easier.  Victor actually forgot about it and slightly curved them to fit in a large pot.  When we make these for Easter, we’ll be using the poacher, for sure!

Spicy Italian sausage went well with these, but it was actually a bit of over-kill.  They weren’t necessary.  The pasta was so good, they were almost a distraction.

I can’t wait to have this one, again!