LOBSTER RAVIOLI FILLING

In a sauté pan over medium heat, add olive oil, shallot, and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add lobster meat and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, add ricotta, lobster mixture, Parmesan cheese, and spinach or parsley. Combine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Once seasoned to preference, beat one large egg and combine with the mixture. Add filling to a pastry bag or large Ziploc freezer bag. Place in refrigerator while you prepare the pasta dough.

BASIC PASTA DOUGH

Place flour in a large bowl and make a high-sided well with the flour. Crack egg and yolks in the center of the well. Gently whisk the eggs with a fork, working in some of the flour from the well’s sides. Once enough flour is combined so that the eggs are not runny, steadily incorporate the remaining flour with your hands. Work the dough on a flat surface lightly dusted with flour. Use the reserved flour to knead your pasta dough until silky smooth, 5 to 6 minutes. The dough is ready when it no longer sticks to your hands. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

TO ASSEMBLE RAVIOLI

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil on the stove.

Remove dough from the refrigerator. Divide dough in half. To begin rolling dough, flour each piece lightly and shape into a rectangle.

Pass the dough through the pasta machine, starting at the highest setting. Kitchen-Aid attachments will be 8, and for manual pasta machines, this will be 1. If using a hand-crank pasta roller, follow the instrument’s instructions.

Sprinkle the work surface with semolina or cornmeal. Place the first half of rolled-out pasta on the surface. With your hand or a pastry brush, use water to lightly coat the entire pasta surface. The water will act as the glue. Make six indentations with a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter but do not cut through the pasta.

Cut a hole at the end of the pastry or Ziploc bag that contains the lobster filling. In the center of each indentation, pipe 2 tablespoons of lobster filling, taking care not to pass beyond the edges of the indentations. Repeat for all six indentations.

Roll out the second half of the dough and place it on top of the dough with filling. Carefully press around the filling to remove air and to seal the ravioli.

Use the cutter to cut out each ravioli. Carefully remove excess pasta. (You can roll that excess out again and cut into strands of pasta or whatever shape you wish.)

In boiling salted water, cook the ravioli. Once they start to float, cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove gently once cooked

Courtesy of Cook Academy at The Essex Resort & Spa