Green Garlic and Potato Ravioli

Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty / Linens by The Everyday Company

24 green garlic plants or baby leeks
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
1 pound store-bought fresh pasta sheets or homemade, if you’re ambitious; recipe follows
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Serves 4–6

Filling
Wash and trim the garlic or leeks, removing the root and the dark green tops. Rinse thoroughly to remove any trace of sand or grit. Slice thinly and sauté with a bit of olive oil, a pinch of salt and enough water to just cover. Cook until meltingly soft, taking care not to brown the green garlic. Add an additional splash of water if necessary.

While the green garlic is cooking, put a pot of salted water on to boil. Add the potato cubes and cook until very soft, then pass through a food mill or potato ricer (or mash well with a fork or potato masher). Add salt and pepper to taste, then mix in the green garlic or leeks, fresh herbs and remainder of the olive oil.

Stuffing the ravioli
Lay 1–2 sheets of pasta on a lightly floured surface. Trim the pasta into as many 2-inch by 4-inch rectangles as you can make, then add 1 tablespoon or so of filling to the bottom half of each, making sure to leave space at the edges. Dot around each mound with water to ensure the pasta will seal. Fold the top half of the sheet over the bottom to enclose the filling, pressing with your fingers to remove air pockets. Using a ravioli cutter, pastry wheel or knife, trim the edges of each raviolo. Repeat until you have used all the pasta and filling (if there is extra filling left over, save and serve re- heated as mashed potatoes). You should have about 24–26 ravioli.

The ravioli can be made in advance and frozen on a lightly floured cookie sheet, or set aside in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

Cooking
Bring a small pot of salted water, seasoned vegetarian broth (see recipe below) or the poule au pot broth from the following recipe to a boil. Add the ravioli and reduce to a simmer.

Wait for the ravioli to rise to the surface, then poach for another 2 minutes. Remove to a deep platter using a slotted spoon. Ladle over some of the cooking broth and a glug of olive oil, some cracked pepper and pinch of salt to taste.

Pasta dough
2½ cups flour teaspoon
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (California unfiltered, if you can find it)

In the bowl of a standing mixer mix fitted with a paddle attachment, mix flour and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and olive oil and 1 tablespoon of water and add to the flour while machine is running. The dough should be crumbly and seem a bit too dry. If it is too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour. Continue until it reaches the crumbly, dry texture.

Using your hands, bring the dough together to form a ball, then wrap in plastic and rest for at least 30 minutes. Divide dough into 6 portions and roll out on a pasta roller according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Vegetarian broth to poach ravioli
5 green garlic plants or baby leeks
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves
1 bay leaf
5 cracked peppercorns
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (California unfiltered, if you can find it)
Sea salt, to taste

Trim the green garlic or leeks by removing the root and most of the deep green, then slice thinly.

Place in a pot and cover with 1 quart of water and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt to taste and strain before using.

This recipe appeared in the Spring 2017 issue as part of a larger story on Sunday Poaching.