Tony & Mia’s Braised Beef Ravioli with Butter and Sage
Makes about 80 ravioli or about 20 servings of 4 ravioli each 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 inside round beef roast (6 pounds)
1⁄2 cup flour
1 medium onion, finely minced
1 medium carrot, finely minced
2 ribs celery, finely minced 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 cups red wine 1 cup Italian tomatoes w/juice, crushed by hand
2 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons salt Pepper to taste
3 to 4 pounds (about) homemade ravioli dough (use your favorite recipe) (see note)
Clarified butter, Parmesan cheese and a chiffonade of sage for garnish
Heat butter and oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. When butter foams, dust the meat with the flour and add it to the pan. Cook until golden brown on all sides, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter.
Reduce heat to medium and add onion, carrot and celery to pan. Cook until lightly golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook less than 1 minute.
Return meat to pan. Increase heat to high and add wine and tomatoes. Cook and stir until liquid comes to a boil, then cover, leaving lid askew, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 3 to 3 1⁄2 hours, stirring a few times and making sure that there is plenty of liquid in the pan. Add a bit more wine or tomatoes if wine reduces too much. At end of cooking time there should be about half the original amount of wine and tomatoes still left in the pan. The meat will have shrunk to about three-fourths of its original weight and should have a nice dark color.
Separate meat from sauce, cool down and process as follows:
To prepare filling: Cut or tear beef into small pieces, then put half into a food processor and pulse the machine on and off until it is coarsely chopped, being careful not to overprocess it. It should retain a bit of a coarse consistency.
Add enough sauce to make the meat moist. Add half the eggs, Parmesan and salt and pepper. At this point the mixture should be firm but moist. Repeat with remaining half of meat and other ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
Make ravioli: Using your favorite pasta recipe, cut 3-inch circles from sheets of pasta just before filling. Place the pasta circles on your work surface and lightly coat with egg wash. Put a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture in center of one circle and then cover with another, egg washed side down, pressing edges closed.
To cook: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add ravioli and cook until ravioli rise to the surface. Serve with clarified butter, Parmesan cheese and sage chiffonade.
Notes: An 8-by-10-inch sheet of pasta will yield approximately 9 circles. You will need two circles for each ravioli.
The filling will hold well refrigerated for several days and does freeze well for a couple of weeks.
To store prepared ravioli if not using immediately: Use parchment paper between layers and alternate ravioli so they do not rest on top of each other. Refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 weeks. Thawing is not necessary before boiling.