Pear, pine nut and pecorino ravioli with sage butter

Silky homemade pasta parcels encase a sweet and salty filling of grated pear, toasted pine nuts and sharp pecorino. They take a quick plunge in boiling water before being bathed in a nutty sage butter, creating a dish that balances richness with fresh, herbal brightness in every bite.

By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen Recipes

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This pear, pine nut and pecorino ravioli receives a Nutri-Score of E due to the very high fat content from the pine nuts, butter, pecorino and egg yolks combined with low fibre and high calories per serving. Per serving (approximate): 1360 kcal, 92g fat (of which 50g saturates), 89g carbohydrates, 6g sugars, 5.5g fibre, and 39g protein.

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Method

Make the Pasta Dough (15 mins + 1 hour resting — start here, filling can be prepped ahead during the rest)

1. Blend the dough — Tip the ’00’ flour, fine semolina, whole eggs and egg yolks into a food processor and blitz until the mixture comes together into a rough, shaggy dough. It might look a bit crumbly at first but keep going — give it another 30 seconds or so and it should start to clump together into a cohesive ball.
2. Knead and rest — Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead it briefly by hand for a minute or two until it feels smooth and elastic. Wrap it tightly in cling film and pop it into the fridge for at least an hour — this resting time relaxes the gluten so the pasta will roll out beautifully without shrinking back. You can make the filling during this hour to save time later.

Prepare the Filling (10 mins — do this while the pasta dough rests)

3. Mix the filling — Peel the pear, grate it finely and give it a really good squeeze with your hands to remove as much water as possible — this stops the ravioli filling from becoming watery and leaking into the pasta. Put the squeezed pear into a bowl along with the toasted pine nuts, grated pecorino and ricotta, then season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir everything together until well combined, then set aside.

Roll and Assemble the Ravioli (30 mins — after the pasta has rested)

4. Roll out the pasta — Cut the rested dough into four equal pieces and keep the ones you are not working with wrapped in cling film so they do not dry out. Pass one piece through your pasta machine on the widest setting, then fold it in half and pass it through again. Repeat this a couple of times, then gradually reduce the setting until the pasta is rolled to the thinnest setting — you want it almost translucent so you can vaguely see your hand through it. Lay the sheet flat on a clean work surface dusted with semolina and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces until you have several long, thin sheets.
5. Place the filling — Lay one pasta sheet flat in front of you and spoon small dollops of the pear and pine nut filling along the length of the sheet, leaving a generous two-finger gap between each mound. You want about 12 portions in total across your sheets.
6. Seal the ravioli — Dip a pastry brush in water and brush around each mound of filling — this acts as the glue that holds the two pasta sheets together. Carefully lay a second sheet of pasta over the top and use your fingers to press down firmly around the filling, pushing out any air pockets as you go. Trapped air will cause the ravioli to burst when cooking, so take a moment to really smooth it out.
7. Cut and chill — Use a pasta roller or a pizza cutter to cut the ravioli into neat 5cm/2in squares, making sure each one has a good seal around the edges. You should end up with about 12 ravioli. Pop them onto a tray lined with semolina-dusted baking paper and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook — this firms up the pasta and helps the filling set.

Make the Sage Butter and Cook (10 mins — make the butter while bringing the water to the boil)

8. Melt the butter — Put a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the unsalted butter. Let it melt and start to foam, then drop in the sage sprigs, squeeze in the lemon juice and scatter in the toasted pine nuts.
9. Cook to nut brown — Keep a close eye on the butter as it cooks — you are looking for it to turn a gorgeous nutty brown colour and smell toasty and fragrant. The moment it hits that golden-brown stage, take it off the heat so it does not go from perfect to burnt. The sage leaves will go crisp and the pine nuts will get even more aromatic.
10. Boil the ravioli — While the sage butter is cooking, bring a large pan of generously salted water to a rolling boil. Gently lower the chilled ravioli into the water and cook for about 2 minutes — they are ready the moment they float to the surface. Fresh pasta cooks incredibly quickly so do not wander off.
11. Toss in the butter — Use a slotted spoon to lift the cooked ravioli straight out of the water and into the waiting sage butter pan. Give everything a gentle toss so each ravioli gets coated in that gorgeous nutty, herby butter.

Serve (2 mins)

12. Plate up — Divide the pear, pine nut and pecorino ravioli between two warm bowls and spoon over every last drop of the sage butter and toasted pine nuts left in the pan. Serve immediately while the pasta is tender and the butter is still silky and warm.

Additional Notes

If you want to get ahead, you can make the pasta dough and the filling up to a day in advance — keep the dough wrapped in cling film in the fridge and store the filling in an airtight container. You can also freeze the assembled, uncooked ravioli on a tray and then transfer them to a freezer bag once solid; they will cook straight from frozen in about 4 minutes. When squeezing the water out of the grated pear, really take your time with this step — the drier the pear, the cleaner the filling will be and the less likely your ravioli are to split open in the pan.