Crimini Mushroom Ravioli with Lemon Cream Sauce

In my family Christmas and ravioli go together like Santa Claus and reindeer. Our dinner isn't complete without ravioli as the first course. Both my grandmother and mother treated us with ravioli. I remember watching my grandmother take a ball of pasta dough and turn it into a paper-thin sheet that covered the surface of her 8-seat kitchen table. It seemed like it took her seconds and a few flicks of her wrist.

It's not at all as easy as it looks. The dough isn't as cooperative as my grandmother made it seem. I also remember my grandmother trying to teach my mom how to roll out pasta. Year after year, she would let my mom start rolling, coaching her for a bit, then finally grabbing the rolling pin from my mom and doing it herself. Once my mom learned, my grandmother said she would teach me, but that never happened. Maybe the trick is that you must be an Italian-born grandmother to master the art of pasta rolling by hand.

Luckily I have both a stand mixer with a dough hook and a pasta machine to roll out my dough. It makes ravioli making much easier, and without them, our family might not be having ravioli for Christmas. This year, I've lightened up our traditional meat, spinach and cheese ravioli and made crimini mushroom ones instead.

The crimini (baby portobellos) are meaty and rich with that earthy mushroom flavor. Paired with a lemon cream sauce, the dish is rich and creamy but still light enough to lead you into a the next course. The lemon in the sauce brings some acidity to the dish to balance the cream sauce and richnes of the mushrooms. It's topped with a parsley/lemon zest gremolata for a fresh finish.

Crimini Mushroom Ravioli with a Lemon Cream Sauce

(Serves 6 as a main dish or 8 to 10 as a first course)

For the pasta:

4 1/2 cups (600 g) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

7 (140 g) egg yolks

3 (150 g) eggs

1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil

1 cup (250 ml) water, plus 2-3 tablespoons if needed

For the mushroom filling:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium-sized yellow onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

5 cloves of garlic, finely diced

24 ounces (680 g) crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/3 cup (80 ml) Madiera wine

8 ounces (225 grams) grated Parmesan cheese

For the egg wash:

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

For the lemon cream sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium-sized yellow onion, finely diced

1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock

1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 bunch chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Zest of 2 lemons, for garnish

Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

To make the pasta: Using a stand mixer with a dough attachment, stir together the flour and salt. Add the egg yolks, eggs, and olive oil and stir on low speed until combined. Slowly add the water until the dough comes together. You may need 2-3 tablespoons more. Continue mixing until dough has a smooth surface, about 3-4 minutes. Divide into 3 equal portions and wrap each in plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes.

To make the filling: Heat the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the onions and half the salt and sweat the onions until they are translucent, 3 - 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the mushrooms and the rest of the salt and cook on high heat until all the moisture from the mushrooms has released and evaporated, 8 - 10 minutes. (Depending on the size of the pan, you may need to add only half the mushrooms and cook them down; then add the remaining mushrooms.) Deglaze with the Madiera wine and cook about 3 minutes, until the alcohol has evaporated. Cool the mixture and stir in the grated parmesan cheese. Refrigerate until the mixture is cold.

To assemble the ravioli: Lightly flour a working surface. Roll the pasta out until it’s paper thin, about 1/16 inch. Using a pasta machine, start on setting one (the widest), and ending on setting 5 or 6. Cut the sheet in half. Place heaping teaspoons spaced about 2 inches apart on one sheet. (You should be able to get 10 to 12 ravioli "filling mounds" on the half sheet, being 2 wide and 5-6 long.) Brush the pasta dough with egg wash (the egg and water beaten together) around the mounds of mushroom filling. Lay the second half of the pasta sheet on top of the sheet that has the filling. Press around each mound of filling to release any air pockets. Cut 2 inch ravioli and place on lightly floured parchment paper. Continue until you have rolled out all the pasta. (You can store in the refrigerator for one day or in the freezer for one month.)

To make the sauce: Heat the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the onion and salt, and sweat until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken stock, cream and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium low. Reduce by half, about 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

While the sauce is reducing, bring about 2 quarts of generously salted water to a rolling boil. Place the ravioli in the boiling water and cook until tender to the tooth, 3 to 4 minutes for fresh ravioli and 6 to 7 minutes for frozen. Add to the lemon cream sauce and serve, topped with the chopped parsley, zest of lemon and grated Parmesan cheese to taste. Buon Appetito!

Related Posts:

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Favorite Regional Pasta Dishes

Pugliese Pasta and Making Pasta by Hand: A Lesson with Nonna Vata

Slow Cooked Meat Ragu to Honor Mom

Roman Pasta Dishes and 10 Places to Eat Them in Rome

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Comments

[Paula Aiello]

Hmmmm - quando posso fare questi belli ravioli?? Ho finito già la celebrazione del mio compleanno ... anche la programa per il giorno di Natale è finito. ... Forse per l'anno nuovo! (Ma c'è abbastanza tempo per fare??)
Che bello! Grazie, Kathy.

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

The ravioli sound wonderful with lemon cream sauce!

[Miriam/The Winter Guest]

I just had my dinner, but I'd had one of these right now! It looks delicious!

[Jen Laceda]

Oh, what a delicious-looking meal. I will be sure to Stumble this and refer to this recipe in the (very) near future.

[Paula Aiello]

Cool. I just learned a new term ... "Stumble" - gotta learn how to do that without hurting myself (just kidding - I found the website - neat!)

[Jozee Pizzurro]

Spinach/ricotta ravioli is all I knew growing up. Sometimes a little meat would be added. They were always so good. Your recipe looks delicious and I like the lemon sauce idea.

[Maryam]

that's looks delicious! I like Mushroom Ravioli so much .. will try the recipe .. thanks

[Viviane]

Ok! I almost tried to reach out for my screen to take a dish and start eating. And it is 10:18 AM! Looks gorgeous!

[Mary Poppins in Heels]

Ahh, I'm drooling!

[Alta]

Your ravioli are so beautiful. I'm jealous! And hungry!

[dokuzuncubulut]

Mmmm... When I read this recipe ı'm geting hungry.

[Jenn @ cook or be eaten]

I love a lemon cream sauce with some savory pasta! Yum! Does the Kitchenaid pasta maker work that well cuz I have a Kitchenaid mixer but not the attachment ... worth the investment?

[Beatrice]

These sound delicious -- lovely photos as well.

[Food Lover Kathy]

Thanks for all the compliments everyone!

Jen Laceda--Thanks for the "stumble." I also saw your comment about my Paris Pastry guesses on MyKugelhopf's post and thanks as well. We'll see how many were right on Christmas, yes?

Jenn @ cook or be eaten: My pasta attachment is not a kitchen aid, it's stand alone and self cranking (bought it many years ago), so I don't know how well the Kitchenaid attachment works. I like mine, but I know it's not the best out now. Also, there is just a hint of lemon flavor in the cream sauce, it's still a very savory sauce.

[Tampa accident attorney]

Mmm, this looks like something that I'd be extremely happy to eat. Thanks for the recipe!

[Lori Riddle]

This dish looks amazing! I can't wait to try this recipe. I may just have everything I need to make it tonight!

[Tiffiny Felix]

I love mushrooms, and gracious!, these little lovelies look amazingly delicious. And the cream sauce--just decadent. Yum. Yum. Yum. :)

[patsy]

I love that your first course is ravioli! I also have trouble rolling out pasta dough and am thankful for my pasta machine to do that for me. The mushroom filling is exactly what I would enjoy. Thanks, for sharing your recipe!