This Cobble Lane Cured ‘Nduja recipe was a good one to kick off writing on the blog with, I feel. Long time no speak. I’ve been keen to get back on the blog for a LONG time but…you know how it is.
‘Nduja Goodness!
I made this ace ravioli recipe the other night to use up some of the amazing produce from Cobble Lane Cured, a great British charcutier who we bought a lot of produce from (too much? Nah. Not sure that’s possible) just before Christmas. Everything sausage/cured meats-based is their ballpark, and they’re damn good at it. I ordered a massive pack but unfortunately they were sold out of their wagyu salami, which I was DESPERATE to try…never mind, next time!
We’ve snacked on their amazing droewors, gifted their Soppressata, salamis, Coppas, Kabanos and Bresaolas, loved their fennel salumi for antipasti nibbles, eaten their lardo with chestnuts and honey for Dolomite-inspired flavours and cooked with their ‘nduja. The guanciale and pancetta are still packaged up, but we’ll get to them soon…
If you’ve not ‘met’ ‘nduja before, it’s a meat product that originates from Calabria in South West Italy. Unlike chorizo, ‘nduja is a spreadable texture, so it’s perfect for dotting on pizzas, melting into sauces or cooking into recipes for a hit of fiery, sausagey flavour.
This Cobble Lane Cured nduja is probably the best ‘nduja I’ve ever eaten; it has such a delicate, almost floral note to it in the mouth just before the heat hits.
Homemade Pasta: The Lowdown
If you’ve not made pasta before, don’t let it scare you! It really isn’t tough. The only thing to bear in mind is that it can take a little while. It gets quicker the more you do it. Honestly my husband is usually the pasta maker, so I am not particularly quick either! It just requires patience. You’ve got to get into the mindset of enjoying your time in the kitchen and having fun. If you’re trying to race on you’ll be rolling your eyes PRONTO.
This recipe was just using up what we had in, but the citrus went so well with that delicate ‘nduja flavour, and the honey combines perfectly with the South Italian feel of rosemary, olive oil, ‘nduja and ricotta.
If you don’t have a pasta roller, you’d have to be dedicated to roll out your dough by hand. But if you fancy it, enjoy a Saturday afternoon with the radio on and get rolling! A ravioli tray makes this much easier too, but you could do without that, simply settling for slightly more ‘rustic’ shapes. I wrote about homemade pasta here, with info on enriched dough.
My photography still comes as an afterthought, when the dinner is on the table and the lights are dimmed! I’ll try to work on my aesthetics…
Cobble Lane Cured Nduja Recipe: ‘Nduja and Ricotta Ravioli in an orange, rosemary, honey butter sauce
Let me know if you try the recipe, I’d love to hear your comments. And follow @phoebetheediblewoman on Insta for more foodie updates 🙂
‘Nduja & Ricotta Ravioli in Rosemary Honey Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- You’re going to need a pasta maker and a ravioli sheet, unless you’re up for a good time playing in the kitchen with rolling pins and knives/cookie cutters (you might be a while)
- 200g tipo 00 pasta four
- 2 (medium) eggs
- 1 echalion shallot
- 20g butter for mix + 20g butter for sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- ‘Nduja to taste (1-2tbsp for medium, 3 for spicy)
- 2 tbsp ricotta (or ricotta and thick greek yoghurt mixed)
- 1 stalk rosemary
- 1-2tsp clear honey
- zest of an orange
- tbsp orange juice
- salt & pepper
- grating of parmesan, to serve
Directions
- First, make your pasta dough. Simply weigh out your flour and make a little well in the top. Crack in both eggs, and fold the flour over the eggs, coating them. Keep mixing and mixing until you have a smooth dough, then knead for 5-10mins. Wrap in clingfilm or eco-alternative and refrigerate for 30mins.
- Whilst refrigerating, make your ravioli filling. Finely chop the shallot and garlic and add to a wide frying pan with the butter and olive oil. Fry for a few minutes on a medium heat until translucent (don’t let them brown at all).
- Turn the pan off. Stir in the nduja, and the ricotta – a spoonful at a time – and mix to a nice consistency. Grate in 1/2 the zest of the orange and a little extra juice if the mix looks claggy or thick (it probably won’t if you used the yoghurt mix but might with pure ricotta). Season.
- After 30 mins, get your dough from the fridge. Divide into four. Set up your pasta roller.
- Shape each of your four rounds into circles and pat flat, to go through the widest grade of your pasta roller. Keep a little 00 flour in the surface and pat it on the machine and dough between rolls to make sure it doesn’t get sticky.
- Trouble shooting: got too thin too long? Fold your dough over on itself in a book fold (fold either end over the middle third), and make sure to roll it sideways several times as you come down the first few grades to get it to about the width of the pasta maker). Getting tears, or bubbles through the dough? You’ve probably been impatient like I usually am and tried to come down the thickness grades too soon. Bookfold your dough and start at zero again, running the pasta through on each thickness grade a couple of times before moving on.
- Try to get your ravioli to a 7 or 8 thickness (on my machine, 9 is thinnest). This is because it will be doubled-layered once filled and the top is stuck on. IF USING A ROLLING PIN, KEEP FLOURING AND ROLLING UNTIL IT GOES AS THIN AS POSSIBLE.
- Lay your pasta, now bigger than the length and width of your ravioli tray by a couple of inches, into your ravioli tray. Lay it loosely so it dips right into the dips in the tray.
- Add around a teaspoon of nduja mix to your ravioli – pressing it gently in to fill the dip but keeping it flat or only slightly mounded on top. IF YOU’RE TRYING THIS WITHOUT A RAVIOLI TRAY, SIMPLY LAY THE PASTA SHEET ON A 00-FLOURED SURFACE AND TOP WITH THE FILLING.
- Using a finger and a little water, moisten the pasta between the ravioli shapes. This is so the top layer will stick on.
- Next, roll your top layer of pasta from the second of the four lumps of dough and gently lay over the filled ravioli tray. Use a rolling pin to firmly roll over the (usually slightly raised and serrated) edges of the ravioli tray, to begin to sever the ravioli squares.
- Remove the ravioli from its tray and lay on a well-floured plate surface.
- Once you’ve made enough (this mix made approx. 30 ravioli), get the kettle on.
- In a wide frying pan, add the butter and oil alongside the rosemary. When melted, add the spoon of honey, and the rest of the orange zest. Add a tbsp of orange juice and scrunch of sea salt.
- Fill a deep pan with the freshly boiled water, salt generously and bring to a rolling boil. Add the ravioli gently and quickly, and as soon as they float (no more than a minute!) fish out and put straight into the pan of butter sauce (don’t shake lots of the pasta water off – this helps combine the sauce and help it cling to your ravioli).
- Serve up, with a scratch of sea salt, scrunch of pepper and grating of parmesan!
