What Melbourne restaurant Tipo 00 does best is right there in its name, which comes from the flour that’s perfect for pasta making. At this Melbourne institution, chef-owner Andreas Papadakis has taken his experience of working with the best produce in fine diners, and translated it into classic pasta dishes made with ace ingredients. Since opening in 2014, he and the rest of the Tipo 00 team have developed a reputation for outstanding pasta – signatures include squid ink tagliolini and gnocchi with porcini and braised duck.
Then there’s this asparagus ravioli, oozing with a parmesan cream sauce.
“This ravioli combines a cacio e pepe, bechamel-style sauce with thin slices of just-cooked asparagus,” writes Papadakis. “If you like, you can save the tips of the asparagus to garnish the dish before serving.”
You’ll find it, and many of the restaurant’s other most popular dishes in Papadakis’s new cookbook Tipo 00 The Pasta Cookbook. It’s all about the art of pasta-making, but you’ll also find recipes for other favourites including Tipo 00’s Tipomisu dessert and stracciatella with pickled raisins, radicchio and saffron.
Tipo 00’s asparagus ravioli with a parmesan cream
Serves 4
Prep time: 1.5 hours, plus cooling and refrigeration
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
350g 00 flour
150g durum wheat semolina flour
1 tsp sea salt
65g egg yolk (from about 3–4 eggs)
190g whole egg (about 4 eggs)
Pasta filling
50g unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely diced
50g plain flour
250ml whole milk, warmed
200g asparagus, stalks thinly sliced and tips reserved for garnish, if desired
25g finely grated parmesan
Parmesan cream
100g finely grated parmesan
125ml chicken or vegetable stock
To finish
100g unsalted butter, diced
1 tbsp finely chopped sage leaves
250ml chicken or vegetable stock, warmed
2–3 tbsp finely grated parmesan
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Method
Make the pasta dough first. If using an electric mixer, place both flours and the salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and whole egg. (Papdakis finds it easiest to weigh the egg yolks in a clean bowl first and then add the whole eggs to the same bowl until he reaches the total amount of egg for this recipe: 225g) Mix on slow speed for 8–10 minutes, until you start seeing large crumbs forming and the dough starts coming together. Transfer the dough to a clean benchtop and knead by hand until it comes together. Don’t expect it to be really smooth, as this is a drier dough – it will come together more and get smoother in the rolling process.
To make the dough by hand instead, combine both flours and the salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and whole egg. Mix with a fork until just combined, then transfer to a clean benchtop and knead by hand for 6–8 minutes until the dough comes together.
If the dough seems too dry and won’t come together, you can spray it a couple of times with your spray bottle of water – just be careful not to make the dough too wet, since it will become more hydrated and softer as it rests.
Papadakis likes to shape the dough into a roughly rectangular block, rather than a ball, as he finds it easier to feed through the pasta machine later. Wrap your dough really well in plastic film, making it as airtight as possible (at the restaurant they use a vacuum sealer).
If you are planning to make your pasta straight away, let the dough rest for at least an hour at room temperature – but ideally refrigerate it overnight, then take it out a couple of hours before rolling and cutting to let it come back to room temperature.
To make the rolling more manageable, it’s best to work with a relatively small amount of dough, so divide it in two before you start. (If you are not using all the dough at once, you can refrigerate the rest of it, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 days.)
To roll out the dough, set up the pasta machine on a solid benchtop. Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the dough enough that it will go through the widest setting on the pasta machine, then pass it through the rollers two or three times, going down one notch each time. Bring both sides of the dough to the centre, so they meet in the middle, then fold in half to create four layers of dough.
Roll the dough through the widest setting again, then repeat the folding and rolling process one more time – but this time bring one third of the dough into the centre, laying it over the middle third, then cover with the last third to create three layers.
Flatten the dough again, so that it will go through the widest setting on your machine, then pass it through the rollers, going down one notch at a time; it should be smooth by now and starting to become elastic. Keep going until the pasta sheets are the thickness you need: for filled pasta, you want a 1–1.5mm thickness.
To make the filling, melt the butter in a saucepan and cook the shallot until translucent. Add the flour and cook for 3–4 minutes over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Gradually whisk in the warm milk until smooth, then cook for 10 minutes over the lowest possible heat to thicken, stirring to avoid the sauce catching on the bottom. Add the sliced asparagus and stir for about a minute – you don’t want to cook the asparagus too much or it will release all its liquid and make the filling too runny. Stir in the parmesan and season with salt and a lot of pepper. Transfer the filling to a baking tray or dish and cover with plastic film, pressing it directly onto the surface to prevent a skin forming, then leave in the fridge to cool completely.
For the ravioli, place the pasta sheets on a lightly floured surface. Starting with the shorter sheet, use a piping bag or a spoon to place heaped tablespoon-sized mounds of the filling along the centre of the sheet, spacing them about 4cm apart. Lightly brush or spray around the filling with a little water to help seal, then lay the longer pasta sheet over the top, trying to match up the ends of the two pasta sheets. Using the blunt side of a 4cm round pastry cutter, gently press around the filling to remove as much air as possible. With your fingers, gently press on the dough around the filling to seal and remove any remaining air bubbles. Continue doing this from one side of the sheet to the other, then use an 8–9 cm round cutter to cut out the ravioli, making sure the mound of filling is exactly in the centre of each one. Set the finished ravioli aside on a well-floured surface while you make the parmesan cream.
For the parmesan cream, put the parmesan into a small heatproof bowl. Heat the stock to just below simmering point, 90°C, and pour it over the parmesan, then blend with a stick blender until smooth. Cover with plastic film, pressing it directly onto the surface to prevent a skin forming, and keep warm until needed.
Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes, or until al dente.
In the meantime, to finish, place a large frying pan over medium high heat. When it’s hot, add the butter – it should start foaming straight away – and cook until golden brown and starting to smell nutty. Add the reserved asparagus tips (if using), the sage and a small ladle of the stock, then season with salt and stir well, adding more stock, a ladle at a time until the sauce has emulsified. When the ravioli are done, use a slotted spoon to carefully lift them out of the water and transfer them to the frying pan. Gently toss over low heat to make sure they are well coated with the sauce. Add the parmesan and keep tossing until the sauce is thick and smooth, adjusting with a little of the pasta water, if necessary. Serve on warmed plates, finishing with a few spoonfuls of the parmesan cream.
Images and text from Tipo 00 The Pasta Cookbook by Andreas Papadakis, photography by Mark Roper, illustrations by Robin Cowcher.
Available July 29 from Murdoch Books, RRP $49.99. Pre-order here.
