Medieval Ravioli

Medieval ravioli stuffed with meat, cheese, and herbs, topped with parmesan and warm spices

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City/Region: Italy

Time Period: 15th Century

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Mardi Gras in medieval times was truly wild. People could really cut loose and indulge in all kinds of gluttony and debauchery. “Wild men” dressed as goats or horses with green leaves around their waist and green branches in their hands would abduct women and take them to the forest. There would be dancing and partying and plays in an atmosphere that encouraged the sins of drunkenness, lust, and gluttony. Revelers would eat plenty of milk, cheese, eggs, butter, and meat, and this recipe for ravioli would have fit right in.

These ravioli taste mostly of the cheese and herbs. I honestly didn’t get much of the meat flavor, so you could probably make an herb and cheese filling and not be missing out on much. In the same vein, the saffron is mostly for color and doesn’t impart a lot of flavor, so you could save that expensive saffron for something else.

“Ravioli for Meat Days.
To make ten portions: take a half pound of aged cheese, and a little of another fatty cheese and a pound of fatty pork belly or veal breast, boiled until it falls apart; then chop it well and take some nice, well-chopped herbs, and pepper, cloves, and ginger; and it would taste even better if you add ground breast of capon. Mix all these together. Then make a thin sheet of pasta and stuff the mixture inside, as for other ravioli. These ravioli should not be larger than a half chestnut; cook them in capon broth, or good meat broth made yellow with saffron when it boils. Let them boil for the time it takes to say two Pater Noster. Then serve, topped with grated cheese and sweet spices mixed together. Similar ravioli can be made with breast of pheasant, partridge, or other birds. ”

— Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino da Como, 15th century

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Ingredients:

Filling

• 2 cups (200 g) freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• 1/2 cup (110 g) ricotta cheese
• 10 ounces (280 g) pork belly or fatty veal
• 6 ounces (170 g) boiled or roasted chicken breast, shredded
• 6 tablespoons chopped herbs, whatever you like, I used oregano, sage, and tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or long pepper*
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• Powder douce*

Pasta

• 2 1/2 cups (300 g) pastry flour, or all purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• Semolina flour, for rolling, optional

• 2 quarts (2 L) meat or chicken broth
• A pinch of saffron threads

*See notes below.

Instructions:

1. For the filling: Boil the pork belly in water for about 1 1/2 hours, or until it’s very soft. Take it out and chop it up small.
2. Combine the pork belly, chicken breast, parmesan, ricotta, chopped herbs, pepper, cloves, and ginger in a food processor. Blend until you have a paste. Set aside.
3. For the pasta: Gather the flour into a pile on a large work surface and create a well in the middle. Crack the eggs into the well and use your hands to beat the eggs. A little at a time, incorporate the flour into the egg. Keep working the mixture until you have a dough, then knead for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it’s nice and smooth. You might not need to use all the flour. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.
4. Once the dough has rested, divide it into 5 pieces. Roll one piece out into a long strip using a rolling pin or a pasta roller, making the dough as thin as possible. Just do one piece for now. You don’t want to roll out all of the dough at once because it will dry out before you’re ready for it and it will be really hard to work with.
5. To shape: Lay a strip of the pasta on a floured surface, making sure not to get any of the flour on the top side of the pasta. Semolina flour works really well for this part.
6. Place about 1 teaspoon of filling 1 1/2” apart down the center of the strip of pasta. Fold the pasta over the filling (hot dog bun style). Gently press around each portion of filling to seal it.
7. Cut the ravioli, making sure each one is well sealed. Set aside.
8. Repeat the process by rolling out the next sheet of pasta, filling it, and cutting out the ravioli.
9. To cook the ravioli: After all of the ravioli have been shaped, bring the broth to a boil. Add the saffron and boil it for 5 minutes, or until the saffron has colored the broth yellow. Add the ravioli a few at a time and cook them for 4 minutes.
10. Sprinkle the cooked ravioli with plenty of grated parmesan and a bit of the powder douce, then serve it forth.

Notes

• Long pepper is hotter than black pepper and has a more aromatic, almost flowery quality to it that's wonderful.
• Powder douce, or sweet powder, is a spice mixture that changed slightly from person to person. It typically was made of spices like clove, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and sometimes sugar. I used a little bit of everything for my powder douce.
• Link to long pepper: https://amzn.to/3ui5j5L

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