Mushroom Ravioli in Garlic Butter Cream Sauce

My friend Judy, who taught me how to make homemade pasta, says that you know someone really loves you if they make homemade ravioli for you. And she's right... homemade ravioli is a labor of love. It's not a quick, throw-it-together kind of meal like brown butter sauce pasta or spaghetti puttanesca.

Homemade ravioli takes a bit of time and attention. But, oh my, it is worth it. And, while making fresh homemade pasta isn't for everyone, I love the entire process.

Is it a labor of love if you love the labor? Maybe that's the secret to everything.

You'll need 4 main ingredients to make homemade mushroom ravioli:

1. Homemade pasta dough
2. Mushroom ragù
3. Grated parmesan cheese
4. A really good sauce

1. Homemade pasta dough

If you've been making pasta for a while and have a favorite recipe or method, use that. If you're new to pasta making, here's a complete step-by-step guide that will walk you through it: How to make homemade pasta

As I mentioned earlier, my friend Judy taught me how to make homemade pasta years ago, and I've been making it on the regular ever since.

After experimenting with many different methods, I settled on an egg rich dough that includes a small amount of both olive oil and whole milk.

For the filling: Mushroom ragù + grated parmesan

The filling for this mushroom ravioli recipe is simply mushroom ragù and grated Parmesan cheese.

Rich and flavorful mushroom ragù is one of the most delicious and versatile plant-based recipes I know how to make. It's something I make often and almost always have some in my freezer, because there's no end to the list of ways you can use it.

It's freezer gold. So, consider making extra and freezing it for another day.

Garlic butter cream sauce is ravioli's perfect match

The garlicky brown butter sauce that you'll find in this recipe is rich, creamy, and the perfect match for mushroom filled ravioli. It's also super simple to make: simply cook some garlic in butter until both the butter and the garlic are brown, then add wine, a bit of Dijon mustard, and plenty of cream and Parmesan cheese.

Browning the butter and the garlic gives the sauce a complex, slightly nutty flavor that's the perfect match to the earthy mushroom filling.

BUT, as you know, I love options, and there are countless other delicious sauces that are a great match to homemade mushroom ravioli.

Additions and substitutions

Using this method, you can make any kind of homemade ravioli you like.

• For cheese ravioli: combine whole milk ricotta, mascarpone cheese, and some grated parmesan
• For spinach cheese ravioli: combine the same three cheeses and stir in some spinach that has been sautéed in garlic and olive oil until wilted.
• For seafood ravioli: Start with the basic cheese mixture and blend in cooked lobster, crab, or smoked fish
• Meat lovers ravioli: Start with the basic cheese mixture and stir in a few spoonfuls of bolognese sauce. Serve the ravioli covered in more bolognese sauce.

You can also just skip the homemade ravioli altogether, make the garlic cream sauce, and use prepared frozen mushroom ravioli. There's nothing like homemade pasta, but we don't always have time to make everything from scratch, do we?

Substitutions for the sauce:

Don't want to cook with alcohol? No problem. Use vegetable or chicken broth instead of wine, plus a half teaspoon of sugar. Immediately after cooking, add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice. The sugars and flavors of white wine add a touch of sweetness, acidity,y and complexity to this dish. You'll get something similar from that pinch of sugar and splash of vinegar or lemon juice.

Want to create a dairy-free version of this brown butter cream sauce? Use vegan butter and cashew cream in place of regular cream. Omit the parmesan cheese entirely. You won't miss it!

Optional add-ins:

I love the combination of spinach or kale with mushrooms, so I often cook some down and stir it into the mushroom ragù. Other good additions include:

• Finely chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pistachios. I suggest roasting and salting the nuts, then chopping them in a food processor and stirring them into the mushroom ragù.
• Sun-dried tomatoes and/ or roasted red peppers add a bright, fresh flavor that cuts through the richness of the garlic butter cream sauce. Simply chop the tomatoes or peppers into small pieces and stir them into the mushroom filling.
• Diced marinated artichoke hearts add a unique twist to mushroom ravioli. Artichokes are a delicious complement to the earthy flavor of mushrooms without overpowering their flavor.

Two essential tools for making ravioli

The only tool that is, in my mind, absolutely essential for making homemade ravioli is a pasta machine. You can, of course, roll out pasta by hand, with a rolling pin. But it is quite difficult to roll pasta dough into sheets that are thin enough.

A pasta maker, with a motor or a hand crank, makes quick work of rolling pasta dough. I use this Marcato pasta maker with the hand crank. You can purchase a motor for it, but the hand crank is so easy to use, I don't feel it's necessary.

To make ravioli, simply lay a sheet of pasta dough on a work surface, dot it with spoonfuls of filling, and lay another sheet over the top. Press the dough around the filling to seal, then cut with a knife or a fluted pastry wheel.

OR, you can use a ravioli press, which is my preference. The press is lightweight, inexpensive, and makes the process much easier. You'll also get a better seal with a press, which makes it less likely that you'll have ravioli breaking apart in the boiling water.

How to make mushroom ravioli from scratch: Step-by-step photos and instructions

Make the pasta dough at least 5 hours in advance, and up to a week. Let the dough rest, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator until you're ready to roll it out.

Make the mushroom ragù. Mushroom ragù will keep well in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Stir a cup of grated Parmesan into the ragù and refrigerate until ready to use.

When you're ready to roll out the dough, remove it from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and set it on a surface that's been dusted with flour.

Cut it into 4 equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered.

Take one piece of dough and feed it through the rollers of a pasta machine set to its widest setting. On my Marcato Pasta Maker, this means setting the rollers to "0".

After rolling it through the machine, fold it in half and roll it through again.

Continue this process of folding the dough in half and feeding it through the rollers with the machine at its widest setting another 8 - 10 times. If at any point, the dough gets sticky, dust it with flour.

Now it's time to roll the pasta into a thin sheet. Continue to feed the dough through the machine's rollers as you slowly narrow the width of the rollers. On my machine, the widest setting is "0", so I first narrow the rollers to "1" and feed the dough through, then narrow it to "2" and feed it through again, and so forth.

Dust the pasta with flour as often as necessary to keep it from feeling sticky.

I rarely roll the pasta thinner than setting "4" or "5" on my machine because I prefer ravioli pasta to be on the thicker, chewier side.

But this is a matter of personal preference. If you want the pasta to be thin, roll it until you can almost see through the sheet.

Lay the sheet on the metal part of the ravioli press. Press the plastic mold into the dough to create little crevices in the dough for the filling.

Fill each crevice with about a tablespoon of filling.

Roll out a second sheet of pasta dough to the same thickness as the first. Lay it over the filled ravioli and use a rolling pin to roll over the dough, pressing it into the edges of the ravioli press so the dough is cut into individual pieces.

Trim the excess dough from the edges of the press.

Turn the press over and gently nudge the ravioli out of the press.

Set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet that's been lightly dusted with flour. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, re-rolling the scraps of pasta dough as necessary.

To make the sauce, add the butter to a large skillet or braiser and set over low heat. When melted, add the garlic.

Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the butter is brown. 

Add the wine. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the wine has reduced by about half.

Stir in the Dijon mustard, then slowly pour in the cream, stirring constantly as you pour.

Stir in the parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper. 

Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken.

Stir in the Parmesan and cook until it's melted. Cover the sauce and remove it from the heat.

Fill a large saucepan with enough water to comfortably fit the ravioli. Add enough salt to make the water taste quite salty. Set it over high heat and bring the water to a gentle boil. Add the ravioli to the water. Let the ravioli cook for 2-4 minutes, until it's slightly underdone.

Drain the ravioli in a colander set inside the sink, and then immediately transfer it to the pan with the sauce. Gently toss the ravioli in the sauce to coat. Set the pan over low heat and gently cook until the pasta is al dente.

Serving suggestions

Remove from the heat and serve with additional parsley and Parmesan, and finely chopped almonds, if desired.

What to serve with mushroom ravioli

I usually like to serve pasta with some kind of green vegetable or salad, and honestly, the simpler the better. After devoting time and attention to the process of homemade ravioli, the last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of time making side dishes.

Make-Ahead, Storage, and Freezer Tips

Homemade ravioli is best cooked the day it is made or frozen immediately after shaping. To freeze ravioli:

1. Lay the ravioli on a tray or plate that's been lined with parchment paper.
2. Place the tray in the freezer for a couple of hours, until the ravioli is firm.
3. Pile the partially frozen ravioli into an airtight container and return them to the freezer. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Frozen ravioli can be cooked straight from the freezer; no need to thaw. Simply bring a pot of salted, boiling water to a boil and add the frozen ravioli. The only difference between cooking fresh and frozen ravioli is that frozen ravioli will take an extra few minutes to cook.

While it's best to cook or freeze ravioli right away, you can prepare the pasta dough and mushroom ragu in advance:

• Store pasta dough in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped, for up to 5 days
• Store mushroom ragù in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months

Frequently asked questions

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