A delightful dish and unforgettable story, served up for Club members. Chef de cuisine for the Golden Oak Club, Phillip Ponticelli, presents his family’s favorite summertime dish made fresh with locally sourced ingredients and a recipe that spans generations.

Summer Mint Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Basil Water Recipe

Yield: 40 ravioli
Prep Time: 60 minutes (with resting time for pasta)
Cook Time: 6 minutes

STEP 1 – PREPARE TOMATO BASIL WATER

Tomato water ingredients: 

5 pounds ripe Roma tomatoes 

3 sprigs of basil leaves

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Tomato water preparation:

Wash tomatoes. Rough chop and place in a blender. Top with kosher salt and add basil puree. Smooth and place in a strainer lined with cheese cloth or a large coffee filter. Cover and refrigerate overnight to drip collect the liquid and use for your tomato water sauce.

STEP 2 – PREPARE THE PASTA

Ingredients for egg pasta dough:
16 ounces all-purpose flour
2 whole eggs
7 egg yolks
½ ounce kosher salt

Preparing the egg pasta dough:

1. Mix flour and salt.
2. Form a well in the center on your work surface and add the eggs and egg yolks. Depending on the moisture content of the flour, you may need to add more egg yolks or flour to adjust the consistency. Dough should be firm.
3. Mix working from the center out. Gradually pulling from the sides.
4. Kneed into a small ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Let rest for 20 minutes. Pasta can be made a day in advance. Refrigerate dough.
5. When ready to prepare the ravioli, divide pasta dough in 4 equal balls and flatten out each by hand.
6. Using a pasta roller, roll out each ball of dough until very thin. Dough should be almost translucent.
7. Using a size 90 pastry cutter, cut out circles and place on work surface.

Note: For a simpler approach, substitute premade eggroll wrappers for hand-made pasta squares.

STEP 3 – PREPARE RICOTTA

Ingredients for ricotta:

• 4 cups of fresh cow’s milk (preferably unpasteurized, but pasteurized also works)
• 2 cups of fresh buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt

Preparing the ricotta:

1. Combine milks, which will begin to curdle. Let curds sit. Soak up and strain out the whey.
2. Set sieve over bowl. Dampen 2 layers of cheesecloth with water and line the sieve with the cheesecloth.
3. Pour the milk and buttermilk into a large pot. Stir in salt. Bring to a simmer and hold over low heat, stirring occasionally. Allow the mixture to stand until it curdles. It will separate into thick parts (the curds) and milky parts (the whey).
4. Pour the mixture into sieve and allow it to drain into bowl, discarding the liquid. Transfer the ricotta to a bowl, discarding the cheesecloth and any remaining whey. Use immediately or keep covered and refrigerated for 4 days.

STEP 4 – PREPARE RAVIOLI FILLING

Ingredients for ricotta ravioli filling:

4 cups ricotta cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
2 whole eggs
¼ teaspoon black pepper
kosher salt to taste

Preparing ricotta ravioli filling:

1. In a small mixing bowl combine ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and eggs; mix well.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste, add fresh chopped mint and hold cold until ready to fill the ravioli.

STEP 5 – ASSEMBLE RAVIOLI

Ingredients for garnish:

Extra virgin olive oil
Spearmint blooms (optional)
Fresh basil
Fresh mint

Ravioli assembly:

1. Place hand-made pasta or eggroll wrappers (purchase pre-made in packs of 100) on table. Place one heaping tablespoon of ricotta in the center of the dough circle (you’ll need 2 circles per ravioli – one for the top and one for the bottom).
2. Brush the bottom circle with egg wash (fresh eggs whipped) and place the other circle on top, sealing from the inside out, working out any air from the center and pinching the edges.
3. Trim with a pastry cutter (or knife) and place on sheet pan lined with parchment paper and dusted with cornmeal to keep the ravioli from sticking.
4. Gently boil pasta until raviolis float to the top, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully remove pasta from the boiling water and place in an ice bath to cool. Strain the ravioli. To hold the ravioli for use later, toss with extra virgin olive oil to prevent ravioli from sticking together. If planning to use ravioli immediately, do not toss with the olive oil as it will prevent the sauce from sticking. 
5. Heat the tomato basil water. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Drizzle ravioli with a cold pressed olive oil and pour over tomato basil water sauce.
7. Garnish with shaved parmesan and spearmint blooms if available. If spearmint blooms are unavailable, fresh basil and mint also work well. Enjoy!

Note: If storing overnight, blanch ravioli in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until warmed through, place finished ravioli on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and dusted with cornmeal, then cover entire sheet pan with plastic wrap to store in refrigerator overnight.