Recipe: Soft Egg Ravioli Carbonara with Crispy Guanciale,
Aged Pecorino Lucano and Black Pepper

(Paired with Twomey pinot noir)

Courtesy Dominic Orsini, chef, Silver Oak Cellars

This recipe is a twist on a classic Italian dish. An egg yolk is tucked between two pasta sheets, and simmered in a sauce finished with an egg white. The custard-like sauce, coupled with the salty guanciale and soft egg yolk, brings out the vibrant fruit flavors of the Twomey pinot noir. Guanciale, (pronounced gwahn-cha-lay) also known as Roman bacon, is made from cured pork cheeks. This fat-laden meat has a slightly richer flavor than pancetta. We cure our own guanciale; however, bacon or pancetta makes a perfectly acceptable substitute in this recipe.

2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 ounces guanciale or pancetta (cut into small dices)

12 soft Egg Ravioli (recipe follows)*

4 ounces butter

4-6 Tbsp. grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

4 egg whites (lightly whipped)

Black pepper grinder

1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a very large sauté pan add the olive oil and guanciale. Place into a 350 F. oven and bake until slightly crispy, about 10 minutes.

When the pot of water comes to a boil, add the ravioli and boil for 5 minutes. Once the guanciale is crispy, pull the pan from the oven and place on a medium high burner.

Add 4 ounces of the boiling pasta water to the pan and bring to a boil.

Pull the ravioli out of the pot of boiling water and add to the sauté pan along with the butter and the pecorino. Let boil all together for one minute. Add more water if necessary. To perfect this sauce you need to have a perfect balance of butter to pasta water.

Turn off the burner and add the egg white, and gently fold into the sauce. The heat from the water and butter will cook the egg white, so it is important that you thoroughly mix it throughout the pan.

Serve immediately and sprinkle with more pecorino, parsley and at least 4-5 full turns on the pepper grinder per serving. It’s not Carbonara without black pepper!

Serves 4

*Soft Egg Ravioli

Filling:

2 cups ricotta cheese

1/2 cup of Tuscan kale or Swiss chard (sautéed with shallots, cooled and chopped)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Pasta:

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 cup semolina flour

3 large eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

12 egg yolks (reserve 4 of the egg whites for the Carbonara sauce)

Filling:

Fold all the ingredients together; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Making the Pasta Dough

Mix together the unbleached and semolina flour and place on a table in a mound; make a well in the center. Put the eggs and salt into the well.

Mix the eggs together with a fork without disturbing the flour. Slowly begin to gently incorporate the flour into the egg mixture a little at a time. Once you have incorporated all of the flour together with the egg, switch to a bench knife or use your fingertips to blend the mixture together well.

After the wet and dry ingredients have been combined, bring the mixture together with your hands to form a ball. If the dough seems too dry, add a little water. If the mixture is too wet and sticks to your fingers, rub your hands with more flour and form the dough into a ball.

Knead the pasta dough as you would bread dough. Push down and away from you with the bottom of your hand. Turn the dough 90 degrees, fold the dough over on itself and push down and away again. Continue this until the dough is smooth, about 4-5 minutes.

Form into a ball, cover with a towel and let rest for 30 minutes to an hour.

Rolling the Pasta

A manual pasta roller is great for rolling and cutting the dough. They are inexpensive and can be found at major kitchen stores or online.

Cut the dough ball into four pieces. Flatten one of the dough balls with the palm of your hand until it's about 1/2 inch thick and no wider than the slot of the pasta roller. With the slot of the pasta roller on its widest setting, roll the pasta through. Gently hold the flattened dough as it comes out of the pasta machine, but don’t pull on it. Put it through again a second time.

Fold the pasta sheet into a uniform rectangle and pass it through the machine two more times.

Now turn the dial to the next smaller setting and pass the dough through the slot. Continue to do this, making the slot smaller by one each time. Don’t try to skip a number, as this will only cause the machine to jam and you'll end up with a mess and no pasta.

As you continue rolling the pasta, your sheet of dough will get longer and longer. Try to gently hold the dough as it exits the pasta machine so it doesn’t tear. This is a great time to have an assistant help you.

Continue passing the dough through the machine until it’s about 1/16th of an inch thick.

Once the pasta is rolled out, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap to keep moist.

Roll out the other three dough balls.

Making the ravioli

Dust the table lightly with flour and take the first sheet of pasta you rolled out and brush it lightly with water. Place six 2-ounce portions of ricotta filling onto the pasta sheets. Make sure the ricotta portions are spaced two inches apart from each other.

In each portion of ricotta, make a small well in the center and place a raw egg yolk.

Next take another sheet of pasta and starting at one end layer the pasta sheet onto the bottom sheet sandwiching the ricotta and egg yolk in the center.

Be sure to evenly lay the pasta sheet onto the base sheet and push out any possible gaps or air bubbles.

When you come to the first mound of ricotta, use your fingertips to seal the pasta around the ravioli and push out any air that may become stuck inside.

Continue this all of the way down to the end. Finish by firmly pressing the pasta sheets together with your fingers.

Dust the top of the pasta sheet with more flour. Using the rim of a glass (slightly larger than each ricotta portion) firmly press down to cut out each ravioli.

Place the ravioli onto a well-floured cookie sheet and repeat the process with the other two sheets of pasta dough.

The raviolis will last up to one day.

Makes 12 ravioli

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