Stage 13 sees the Tour speeding its way through Grenoble on the way to the ski resort of Chamrousse.  So, tonight I bring you soul warming food, rich, simple and tasty.  Just the thing to warm you up after a hard day out on the slopes.

Ravioles du Royans are a French specialty of the Dauphiné region in the Rhône Alps.  Borrowing much from the more familiar Italian Ravioli, Ravioles du Royans are tiny parcels of wheat pasta filled with a blend of cheese and herbs.  They are traditionally served poached in chicken broth, but can also be poached and then fried off in butter, or served as  a gratin with cheese and cream for the more decadent among us.

These little parcels of goodness are available pre-made in France, in much the same way as you buy fresh filled ravioli here in Australia.  However, you can easily make them yourself.  If you have a bit of time on your hands, make a session of it and make enough to throw in the freezer for whenever you find yourself in need of big warm hug, Olaf style.

Recipe adapted from Food and Passion.

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 600 grams fine (type 00) flour
  
• 6 eggs

For the filling:

• 160g soft goat’s cheese
• 120g parsley
• 250g Gruyere, grated
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• salt
• pepper

For the gratin:

• cream
• Gruyere cheese, grated

Note: This is a large recipe that makes approximately 6 dozen ravioles.  You might notice in some of the images that I have halved the ingredients when making the dish –  more or less successfully.

How to do it

Firstly, make the dough by mixing the eggs and flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Mix until the dough comes together and pulls away from the edges.

 

 

 

While the dough is mixing, chop the parsley roughly (you’ll be blending the mix later, so no point fussing with it) and fry it off in a pan with the butter over a medium heat.

 

 

 

Take the pan off the heat and add the goats cheese, grated Gruyere, egg and egg yolk and season well with salt and pepper.  Mix well and then blitz in a food processor or in a bowl using a stick mixer.  Transfer to the fridge to firm up and let the flavaours develop overnight. Note, if you are short on time here you can chuck the bowl in the freezer for it to firm up a little while you roll the pasta and make the dish all in one go.

 

 

Put the pasta through a pasta machine, and roll out the final sheets on quite a fine setting (I worked up to setting 8).  I found this pasta recipe quite soft and difficult to work with, but possibly a result of my halving the recipe.  If it happens to you just add more flour to the mix.  I didn’t as I was in a rush, but really should have stopped to fix it up!

 

 

Now, you can either use a ravioli cutter/mold, or just lay your sheets out on the bench and cut your ravioles with a knife.  I ended up doing both as my dough was too soft to use in the mold (I discovered this once my ravioles were trapped inside!).  Remember to brush all the way around the ravioles with water or egg wash to seal the filling inside before the top sheet is added.

 

 

 

Roll over the ravioli mold with a heavy rolling pin to cut the ravioles and tap the tray gently upside down to release the pasta.

 

 

 

 

Place a large pot of salted water on to boil.  Once at a rolling boil, put the ravioles in and cover with the lid.  Cook for 3-4 minutes or until they float to the top.

 

 

 

When cooked, strain and transfer to a baking dish.  Drizzle generously with cream, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle generously with gruyere.  I’ve not listed amounts, just do it your liking.

 

 

 

Bake at 200 degrees celsius for 12-15 minutes or until crunchy on top and golden.