Fish ravioli with herb butter sauce and toasted hazelnuts

In Italy, fish is frequently featured on special occasions, and homemade stuffed ravioli such as this one is frequently served as one of the dishes on Christmas eve. You may substitute any white fish with a herb combination of your choice.

Ingredients

• 300g 00-grade flour or plain flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• 200g white fish fillet (such as sole, European sea bass, hake)
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 100g fresh cream
• 50g ricotta cheese
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped herbs (such as basil, parsley, marjoram)
• 100g butter
• 4 leaves fresh sage, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh marjoram, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped, toasted hazelnuts, to serve

Method

Pour the flour onto a clean, dry work surface; make a well in the center and add eggs and salt. Mix the eggs with a fork, incorporating a bit of the surrounding flour at the time. Once the mix is thick enough, start kneading with your hands for about 5 minutes, until you form a smooth and soft dough. Cover with a clean drying cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.
Remove any remaining bones or skin from the fish; place them in a food processor. Add salt, pepper, cream, ricotta, and egg white; process until well combined.
Divide the dough into 4 or 6 pieces; roll out one piece at a time with a pasta machine until you achieve long, thin sheets of pasta. Pipe small piles of the fish mixture on top of one pasta sheet, a few centimeters apart from one another. Brush the edges with water and place a second pasta sheet on top. Squeeze out the air and seal the dough all around the filling. Cut out squares with a ravioli cutter. Transfer onto a floured tablecloth; allow to rest for about 30 minutes.
Cook the ravioli in a large pot filled with salted water until they float to the top; drain and transfer ravioli to a warm serving dish.
In the meantime, melt the butter in a pan and add the chopped herbs. Cook a few minutes, until golden.
Toss warm ravioli with butter and herb sauce. Top with chopped hazelnuts and serve.