Homemade shrimp ravioli with a sun-dried tomato pasta, topped with a limoncello sauce. If dinner, tonight, was a reality TV show – I won with a unanimous decision.
I don’t often swoon when eating something, but this was totally swoon-worthy. I didn’t want my plate to ever empty. Chunks of shrimp inside perfect pasta pockets topped with butter and limoncello and mascarpone. Everything about it screamed delicious.
The filling could go into anything, from a cannelloni or manicotti to a stuffing for fish and the pasta dough could be spinach, plain, or even lemon-infused. And the sauce… the limoncello was perfect, but a red sauce would work, as well. It’s one of those dishes where each individual part was perfect – and any one of them could be used with something else and still be perfect.
The perfect meal.
Shrimp Ravioli with Limoncello Sauce
Pasta Dough
- 1/4 (generous) cup finely minced sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Fine sea salt
- 2 cups flour
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
Shrimp Filling
- 1 lb of medium shrimp cut into small chunks
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 scallions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp lemon juice + grated peel of one lemon
- 1/4 cup ricotta
- 2 heaping tablespoons mascarpone
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
- 2 teaspoons, chopped parsley
- Salt/Pepper to taste
Limoncello Sauce
- 4 tbsp limoncello
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 3 tbsp. mascarpone
For pasta dough:
On a clean work surface, mound 2 cups flour and form a well in the center.
Add 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, and sun-dried tomatoes into the well. Using a fork (or your fingers) gently break up yolk and slowly incorporate flour . Continue until the liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes.
Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.
After the dough has rested:
Take the dough and divide into 3 equal pieces (cover the other two and set aside)
Set the rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.
Roll dough through the machine, decreasing the setting one notch at a time (do not fold or turn the dough this time) until pasta sheet is a scant 1/16 inch thick.
For the filling:
Quickly sauté garlic and onion. Add seafood and parsley, toss til coated, then let it cool.
Add the ricotta, parmesan, and mascarpone. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Cut dough into 3″ squares and place a heaping teaspoon of filling on top. Brush top with egg wash.
Fold into a triangle and crimp edge with a fork. Place them onto a sheet pan lightly dusted with flour.
Cook in lightly boiling water about 3-5 minutes.
For the sauce:
Simmer the limoncello with the lemon juice. Stir in butter to melt, then add the mascarpone. Add a bit of salt & pepper, if desired.
You do not want or need a lot of sauce – it is buttery-rich. It’s also not designed to be a smooth cream sauce – it’s a flavored butter sauce – so less is more.
What I really wanted was more. And more.
It really was a perfect meal.