Fresh Shrimp and Tomato Ravioli
Small shrimp cook right inside these very fresh-tasting ravioli. You don’t need fancy big shrimp for this: small and inexpensive “41/50s” (which means there are forty-one to fifty shrimp in a pound) are a good size, or even smaller rock shrimp. Make the simple flavored butter a bit ahead of time, and chill it in the freezer to facilitate handling.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 2 cups of filling, for 20 to 24 ravioli
Ingredients
For the Flavored Butter
For the Shrimp
For Finishing
Preparation
Preparing the Filling
Step 1
For the flavored butter, blend the soft butter, chopped parsley, and freshly ground black pepper well in a bowl. Scrape it onto a piece of plastic wrap, fold over the plastic, and shape the butter into a flat square about 1/3 inch thick, like a big butter pat. Chill in the freezer until very hard. Cut the square checkerboard-style into twenty-five little cubes, five rows of five; separate them and keep chilled.
Step 2
To prepare the shrimp, remove the shells and devein them, rinse well, and dry. Cut the shrimp crosswise into pieces about 3/4 inch long (halves or thirds, depending on their size—you may not have to cut tiny shrimp at all). Chop or dice the tomato flesh into small chunks, no larger than 1/4 inch. Toss the shrimp, tomatoes, shredded basil, and salt together in bowl.
Filling the Ravioli
Step 3
Following the master method, page 189, roll dough strips for filling. For each raviolo, drop in place a tablespoon of shrimp-tomato filling, including in each portion two or three shrimp pieces and some tomato bits; then set a cube of flavored butter on top. Cover and cut ravioli as detailed in the master method.
Finishing the Ravioli
Step 4
Cook the ravioli, transfer them to a skillet, and dress with sauce (see master method on page 192). Remove pan from heat, and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil (1 tablespoon for a skillet with ten or twelve ravioli) and serve.
Variation: Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil Ravioli
Step 5
Cut 12 ounces of fresh mozzarella into 1/3-inch cubes-about 1 1/2 cups. Prepare 1/2 cup of fresh tomato, peeled and chopped-as you would for Shrimp and Tomato Ravioli above and toss with 3 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves and a pinch of salt. Mound each raviolo with 1 tablespoon of mozzarella pieces and a teaspoon of tomato-basil.
Step 6
I recommend saucing this with Raw Summer Tomato Sauce, page 265.
Good Sauces for This . . .
Step 7
Two-Minute Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce (page 183) (to make it easy, prep the tomatoes and basil for the sauce and the shrimp stuffing at the same time).
Step 8
Aglio e Olio (page 104) and marinara sauce (page 130).
