Ravioli Con Salsa Di Pomodoro

Sun-dried tomato, basil and mozzarella ravioli with simple tomato and basil dressing.

This is quite tricky to make but tastes light and fresh like all good Italian dishes do. It's another one of mine so I'm not sure how traditional it is but wifey loves it! I have always loved the traditional mozzarella salad and thought that nothing could be better than having a tiny version contained within ravioli.

You will need:

Homemade pasta (see my previous post)
2 balls of mozzarella
Large handful of basil
Jar of sun-dried tomatoes (you won't need all of it... about a third)
5 ripe tomatoes
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped or crushed)
knob of butter (about a tablespoon)
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
Handful of black kalamata olives
Salt and pepper
Parmesan to serve

Make the pasta dough as per my previous post. Once you've got to the point where it's in the fridge start making the sauce.

Chop the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds and watery bits. Dice them roughly and set to one side. Chop half the basil (including the stems) finely and set aside ready for cooking.

Melt the butter in a pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil and gently fry the garlic. Add the tomatoes and basil and season with a little salt and pepper. Add the juice from the lemon and the olives and simmer for just a couple of minutes. You should end up with something that is more like a dressing than a sauce. Once you've achieved this, take it off the heat until you're ready to cook the pasta.

Chop the sun-dried tomatoes into roughly half inch squares and tear the mozzarella into inch size pieces.

Roll the pasta as described in the last post to about setting 8 (or the next to last setting on your machine).

You now need to assemble the ravioli so make sure you have dusted a surface with semolina flour and have a floured tray to hand. I make mine five at a time on a rectangular sheet of pasta that measures about 10" by 6".  Place a piece of mozzarella, a bit of sun-dried tomato and half a basil leaf on top of each other at equal intervals on one side of the pasta. Using a brush, wash the areas that do not contain the filling with a little water. Fold the sheet over and push the pasta together around the fillings (try and push all of the air out). Cut the pasta using a knife or pasta cutter into squares and repeat until you've got about 6-8 ravioli's per person (if you have any pasta left you can freeze it and use it later). Put the ravioli on a floured tray (semolina flour works best here!).

Boil a pan of salted water and cook the ravioli for about a minute. Drain and add the ravioli to the tomato dressing. Toss gently over a low heat until the pasta is coated evenly and serve immediately with grated parmesan.