This dish is a marriage of my three adopted homelands — France, Italy and the Kalahari. Ravioli, of course, is classically Italian, and one of the most therapeutic dishes to make, in my opinion. There are no shortcuts as you wield the dough to let the pasta take shape. Burnt butter, or beurre noisette, is deeply French and takes on a nutty flavour as it caramelises. How burnt is entirely up to you, but the French like theirs quite charred. And finally, for that special Klein JAN touch, I couldn’t resist infusing the sauce with wild sage from the Kalahari. This might be my new favourite comfort dish!
PORK RAVIOLI WITH BURNT BUTTER AND WILD SAGE SAUCE
TIME: 1½ hours/ SERVES: 6
for the filling
olive oil
100 g Eskort Streaky Bacon
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic
500 g Eskort Pork Mince
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50 g pine nuts, roasted
30 ml finely chopped parsley
1 egg
for the pasta
400 g (715 ml) cake flour
4 eggs
20 ml olive oil
20 ml water
for the burnt butter wild sage sauce
250 g butter
wild sage leaves
for the filling
Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan. Add the bacon and fry until crispy. Add the shallot and garlic and fry until soft and translucent. Add the mince and fry until cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
Let the mixture cool and add the pine nuts, parsley and egg. Mix well and keep in the fridge until needed.
for the pasta
Place the flour in the mixing bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a hook dough attachment. Add the eggs, olive oil and water and mix until a dough forms, then knead the dough for 10 minutes. Take it out and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
If you are using a pasta machine, follow the machine’s instructions. Alternatively you can roll out the dough on a floured surface until it’s very thin. Cut long strips and spoon heaps of the filling on top of one strip. Brush around the filling with water and place another strip of pasta on top. Press the pasta around the filling, using a cookie cutter to cut out your raviolis. Then, use the leftover dough to roll out another strip and repeat with the rest.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Gently place your raviolis in the water and take the pot off the heat. Let the ravioli’s stand for 2 minutes. You do not want to boil them in rapid water as they are fragile. Spoon out with a slotted spoon into a bowl and keep warm.
for the burnt butter wild sage sauce
Try to cut the butter into equal-sized pieces so they melt at an equal rate. Heat the butter over a medium-low heat.
As the butter begins to heat and sizzle, it will become foamy. Stir the butter often as it cooks. Because the colour develops quickly, you’ll want to stir very often to prevent hot spots from browning the butter unevenly. The foam will also begin to subside as it cooks. When it reaches this deep golden colour, I like to stop here, as the flavour is so deep, nutty, and rich.
Add the sage leaves and mix through. Plate the raviolis and spoon the butter over. Season with more freshly ground black pepper.
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