Nothing beats a nice homemade pasta and it's surprisingly easy. Once you get used to making it, it works as a perfect carrier for different type of flavours you can then go on to experiment. The dish above is rich with prawn flavours from the filling, the bisque and the prawn oil.
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Time: 30min prep, 1.5hrs cooking
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Prawn Ravioli
- 500g fresh prawns peeled*
- 1 egg white
- 60ml thickened cream
- 1 tsp finely chopped dill
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fennel fronds
- 200g plain flour
- 2 eggs
- salt
- pepper
Prawn Bisque/Prawn Oil
- shells and heads from the peeled prawns
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 clove of garlic finely sliced
- 1/2 medium sized onion finely chopped
- 1/3 cup fennel stalks finely chopped
- 1/3 cup carrots finely chopped
- 2 cups fish stock
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- pinch of cayenne pepper - 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup thick cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp flour
- salt
- pepper
Garnish
- Nasturtium (optional)
- Fennel fond (optional)
* I used king prawns for its stronger flavour.
Method
1. Mix the flour and the eggs well to form a dough. Knead for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside to rest.
2. Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a small pot, add the prawns shells and prawn head to the oil and fry until the shells have turned golden red. Pour out majority of the oil into a small bowl and set aside for later.
3. Add garlic and onion to the pot, cook over medium heat until softened and fragrant, use your wooden spoon to break down the prawn heads to full release its flavours. Add fennel and carrots and cook for a further few minutes on until softened. Add the white wine and cook for a further 2 minutes, before adding the fish stock, tomato paste and cayenne pepper. Let it simmer on the lowest heat while you move on to prepare the other components of the dish.
4. Roughly chop the prawns. Place half of the prawns with cream and egg white in a food processor and process into a smooth mousse, scoop it out into a mixing bowl. Add the residual half of the prawns, fennel fronds, dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper and stir to combine well with the prawn mousse.
5. Set up the pasta machine to the widest setting and lightly dust the pasta dough and the machine with flour. Feed the dough through the machine, fold the pasta in half before feeding it through the machine again until you have a well combined and strong sheet. Gradually narrow setting until the dough is about 1mm thick. Cut out rounds from pasta sheets using a 7cm pastry cutter.
6. Place a table spoon of prawn mixture onto the round pasta sheet, place another round past sheet on top and press the edges firmly to seal, ensuring there are no air pockets. Repeat until finished.
7. In a new pot, bring 2ltr of water to boil with 1tsp of salt.
8. Pass the prawn bisque through a sieve into a bowl and return the stock to an empty clean pot. Bring it to boil before stirring in the cream and keep it on low heat ensuring that it's not boiling over. In a separate small pan, make a roux by adding 3 tbsp of flour to 2 tbsp of melted butter, mixing it well until it's a smooth paste. Carefully mix the roux into the prawn bisque making sure any lumps are fully dissolved. Keep it warm over low heat or a pot of hot water.
9. Put the ravioli into the boiling water, boil for 7 minutes or until al dente. Take it out once cooked and set aside.
10. Plate by pouring a layer of prawn bisque onto the plate, drizzle with the prawn oil. Brush the ravioli with the prawn oil and place it on top of the bisque. Garnish with nasturtium leaves. Enjoy while it's hot!
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