Mushroom ravioli with truffles, parmesan crisp and a marsala cream sauce

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I've recently been to Florence in Italy and visited San Lorenzo market, a real place for gourmet food items that are difficult to get our hands on in the U.K. I purchased some wonderful black truffles for a knockdown price and a large bag of porcini mushrooms, both of which find their way into this dish.


Serves 2-4

150ml milk
75g butter
25g plain flour
100g porcini mushrooms, dried
100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced into duxelle (fine dice)
few sprigs of thyme
black truffle shavings or one small black truffle, sliced thinly
handful of parmesan cheese, finely grated

Pasta: -

200g type '00' flour
2 large eggs
25ml olive oil
pinch of salt

Sauce1 carrot, roughly diced
1 large shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
200ml Marsala wine
300ml mushroom stock (water from the dried mushrooms. or use chicken stock)
25g butter
50ml double cream

1. For the filling, add 75g of butter to a pan and set over a medium heat. Once the butter has melted add the plain flour and whisk until fully combined with the butter and smooth in consistency. Slowly add the milk and stir all the while until you have a thick white creamy béchamel sauce. Season with salt and pepper and leave to fully cool.

2. Set a pan over a high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, dice the porcini and fry with the chestnut mushrooms and a sprig of thyme, taste and season then add a splash of the Marsala wine, once the wine has evaporated transfer to a clean bowl and allow to cool fully.
3. Mix enough béchamel to bind the mushrooms together and leave in the fridge to set while you make the pasta.

4. For the pasta, add the eggs to the flour and add a pinch of salt and the olive oil. Mix together to form a dough which may seem quite dry at first, knead on the workbench until the dough becomes elastic in consistency. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for at least one hour.

5. For the sauce, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over a high heat and add the shallot, carrot, garlic and thyme, fry for 2-3 minutes add the bay leaf and cook for a further minute before adding the Marsala, reduce down by half and add the mushroom stock, reduce once more by around two thirds until you have a thickened sauce, sieve into a clean pan and add the butter. Stir until fully encorperated and then add the cream and season. Keep warm.

6. For the parmesan crisp, scatter the parmesan over the base of a non-stick pan in an even layer and set over a high heat until the cheese begins to bubble, transfer under a hot grill for a few seconds until the top of the parmesan goes golden, remove from the grill and leave for a minute or so, carefully lift the parmesan off the base of the pan using a pallet knife, using kitchen scissors, cut out any shape you wish.

7. To finish and plate, roll out the pasta on a machine until you can see through the sheets, cut out circles using a pastry cutter around 10cm in diameter and take a tablespoon of the filling and place in the middle, take another disc of pasta and place over the top pressing down around the filling, run your fingers in a pinching motion around the filling to encase and secure it. Drop the ravioli into salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes, or until they float to the surface. place the ravioli into a deep bowl served with the parmesan crisp, truffles and drizzle over the sauce.