Giant Pork and Apple Ravioli in Browned Butter Garlic Sauce

Guys! I finally won.

For those of you who don't know... Sue and I have been hosting a Chopped-style cooking contest on Facebook every week while everyone is self isolating. Something to keep us distracted and have some fun. Anyway.... I think we've done 6 or 7 of the contests and I have NEVER won. I came close once - made 2nd place in a three way tie - but have never won. This week though! Wooooooooo. 

The ingredients we had to use were apple and butter. I knew most people would go sweet with apple apple pie and such, so I went savory. It paid off! 

Not only did I have a heck of a lot of fun making my own pasta BUT I also got first place! I'm sharing my recipe here so you all can give it a try. It's a bit finicky but if you take your time it will all work out. (That's not me being zen. Seriously. Don't rush it.)

Giant Pork and Apple Ravioli in Browned Butter Cream Sauce

Ingredients

Filling

2 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, diced fine

1 apple, shredded

2 stalks celery, diced fine

1 lb ground pork

1 tsp sage

1 tsp rosemary

salt & pepper to taste

sprinkle red pepper flakes

Pasta

2 cups flour

3 eggs

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Browned Butter Sauce

1/3 cup butter

1 Tbsp fresh chives

2 tsp garlic

1 Tbsp flour

1 cup milk

Decorations

fresh chives

Directions

Prepare filling - In a large frying pan over medium heat, saute butter and onion about 4 - 5 minutes, until onion softens. Add in the shredded apple and celery and cook, stirring, another 10 minutes. Add in pork and herbs/spices.

Cook, stirring, until pork no longer pink. 

Remove from heat and let cool completely. Filling can be made up ahead of time and kept in fridge until needed. 

Prepare pasta - place flour in bowl. Add in eggs, olive oil, salt & pepper. Stir until dough comes together and then use your hands to briefly knead dough until it is smooth. Cut dough into 4 even pieces. Cover with a tea towel and let rest 20 - 30  minutes. 

Once dough has rested - take one of the pieces and put it through your pasta roller until it is really thin. I used setting 7 to finish mine. If you don't have a pasta roller: roll with a rolling pin until super thin. 

Roll out a second piece. One will be the bottom of the ravioli, one will be the top. 

Place a medium sized cookie scoop of the cooled filling about 2 - 3 inches apart along the bottom piece of dough. Brush the edges and around the filling with a little bit of water. This will help the top dough stick and seal better. 

Place the second rolled out piece of dough on top of the bottom piece and carefully, using your fingers, smooth the dough together to seal. Press as much air as you can out from around the filling so it doesn't expand when cooking and blow apart! (See photo below)

Use a pasta trimmer or sharp knife to trim around each ball of filling to cut the ravioli apart. 

Save any excess scraps of dough because you can roll them through the roller one more time. 

Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of dough. I ended up with 17 giant ravioli (after rolling the scraps). 

Place the ravioli on a parchment paper lined tray and cover tightly until ready to use. Don't stack them or overlap them or the dough will stick together. 

You can cook them right away or chill them until you need them. They are good for about 5 - 6 hours in the fridge before they start going soggy. 

When ready to cook the ravioli you will first want to make your browned butter garlic sauce as the pasta only takes a few minutes to boil.

Prepare sauce - in a medium pan over medium heat, brown your butter. When it has just started to turn golden, add in the chives and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add in the flour and cook, stirring, another minute. Slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time until sauce is smooth. Reduce heat to low while you cook the ravioli. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in 4 - 5 giant ravioli and boil 3 - 4 minutes. Don't be tempted to add too many or the temperature of the water will drop and your pasta will not cook as fast and risks popping open or getting soggy! 

Remove the ravioli from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place 3 or 4 pasta in a bowl. 

Top with the browned butter garlic sauce. 

And then decorate with a few more fresh chives!

And jump right in!

New favorite pasta. It kind of reminded me of making dumplings or pierogies but for some reason it was more fun. Maybe because it my first time making homemade ravioli? 

The flavors and textures are going to blow your mind in this dish, I promise. A hint of sweetness from the apple, a hint of spice from the red pepper flakes, and don't even get me started on the nuttiness from the browned butter!

I'm happy I got to win our Chopped: Quarantine Edition challenge with this recipe. It totally deserved a win! I can't wait to make more pasta dishes - nothing beats the taste and texture of homemade pasta.