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This recipe for homemade ravioli filled with gorgonzola cheese, fresh apple, and chopped walnuts was inspired by one of my fave pasta sauce recipes: Chef John's Gorgonzola Cream Sauce. I basically took his recipe and turned it inside out, taking everything I love about the sauce and shoving it into plump filled pillows of ravioli.

It's creamy with a little sharpness from the cheese, the apples are crisp and sweet, and the walnuts add a nuttiness that really ties it all together.

A plate of gorgonzola ravioli drizzled with balsamic glaze, pierced by a fork, next to a red apple. — There's so much flavor packed inside each of these gorgonzola ravioli that you don't need a fancy sauce to serve it up with style.

To serve this homemade ravioli, I toss it in a pan with some brown butter and a sprinkling of finely grated parmesan cheese to make a quick sauce and finish it with a drizzle of thick, aged balsamic vinegar (I swear by this Traditional 25 Star Balsamic or this Denissimo Balsamic Vinegar).

I've made lots of cut or extruded pastas like fettuccini and rigatoni before, but I've always struggled with filled pastas. I am so far from an expert on this, and I learned so much as I was developing this recipe, so if you're a beginner to the world of ravioli, don't worry... I am here to walk you through it.

Disclaimer: I'm writing this post as someone who was recently a beginner at this too, because I think that's a useful perspective to share. If you want true pasta expertise, I encourage you to check out Pasta Grannies and Pasta Social Club.

When you're ready to try some other filled pasta shapes, check out my butternut squash and goat cheese agnolotti recipe!

an overhead shot of two white plates with 6 ravioli each on them. the ravioli are drizzled with balsamic and brown butter. a small bowl of walnuts and a small bowl of grated parmesan cheese are in the bottom right corner. two shiny red apples are in the top left.

THIS IS A BASIC EGG PASTA DOUGH

I know it's completely non-traditional, but I always make my pasta dough in a stand mixer with a dough hook. It's cleaner, and neater, and so much easier on my arms and shoulders. If you prefer making pasta dough by hand on the counter, you can absolutely go right ahead and do that too.

All-purpose flour is just fine. No need to use specialty pasta flour or "00" flour. Save buying that for when you realize you've fallen in love with pasta making and want to try getting a little fancy with it. Different flours absorb liquid differently so if you do use a different flour you might need to adjust the amount of liquid your dough needs.
It can take a bit of time for the dough to mix. This is before you even knead it. It can take a while for the flour and eggs to combine. Let the mixer run on low for 8-12 minutes, and go wash dishes or do other things while it works. Check on it every few minutes to push any flour trapped on the sides into the center, or make sure the sticky part of the dough is facing out so it can pick up any dry bits. It's really hard to over mix pasta dough, and you'll have to knead it after this step anyway, so don't worry that you'll hurt it by letting it take its time.
Pasta dough will always seem dry at first. The only liquid in this dough comes from the eggs: two yolks plus two whole eggs. Yolks are 100% fat and provide the gorgeous color and supple texture. The whites do contain a bit of water, but not much. Pasta dough needs to be kneaded for quite a while.
Add additional water ONLY if you absolutely need to. And by additional water I mean, like, a teaspoon. Maybe two. If it's been like 8-10 minutes and the dough is still a shaggy mess with lots of dry flour bits in the bottom, drizzle a teaspoon of water or olive oil into the mixer bowl (on top of the dry bits) and let it run for a minute before you add any more. But really resist adding water unless you think it's absolutely necessary.

DEFINITELY UsE a Ravioli Stamp

Round gorgonzola ravioli spread across a floured surface with a fluted metal pasta cutter. — a ravioli stamp is a game-changer

If you're a beginner, the best thing you can do to set yourself up for ravioli success is buying a ravioli stamp (pictured above). I was skeptical of these for a while; I thought a cookie cutter was a good enough replacement, but no. It turns out that was one of the reasons I struggled to make good ravioli.

Ravioli stamps have a unique fluted design to them that helps seal and cut through the pasta dough. It makes such a difference in getting uniformly shaped ravioli that don't burst open when they cook.

I roll my pasta dough to a "6" thinness on my KitchenAid pasta roller. You don't want it to be too thick, but you don't want it to be too thin either, or the moisture from the filling will tear through it.

[gif] using ravioli stamp to mark spots for filling on pasta dough — 1: mark your spots

[gif] placing filling in ravioli — 1: mark your spots

I start by dusting my counter well with flour under the bottom sheet of pasta so that the dough doesn't get stuck. I try to keep the top of that pasta sheet and both sides of the top sheet of pasta dough as free of flour as possible, so that the top layer of dough will stick to the bottom one.

When I lay the top sheet of pasta down, I try not to let any air get trapped inside the ravioli. Even though the stamp seals the two layers of pasta together at the edges, I use my fingers to seal the dough around each little mound of filling, lifting the edges and pressing out any air bubbles before I start stamping.

A fork pierces a gorgonzola ravioli drizzled with balsamic glaze on a white plate.

📖 Recipe

Apple, Walnut, and Gorgonzola Ravioli (From Scratch)

Servings people

Author Rebecca Eisenberg

Each of these plump ravioli are bursting with gorgonzola, apple, and walnut flavors. All you need is a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and maybe some brown butter to turn them into a complete meal.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 3

Resting Time 30

Total Time 1 34

Recipe Notes

To freeze arrange ravioli on a sheet pan dusted lightly with flour and place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Then transfer to an airtight container. Add 1-2 minutes to cook time when cooking from frozen.
Use the pasta dough within 24 hours of making it. After that the egg yolks start to oxidize and your pasta dough will be unpleasantly green in color. I learned this the hard way. Womp womp.
If the shaped ravioli dough has dried out a bit before you start boiling, add 1 minute to the cook time.
If you're using a more mild gorgonzola for your ravioli, you can increase the amount of gorgonzola in the filling or reduce the amount of ricotta. Because the filling doesn't need to be cooked, you can taste as you go and adjust as needed.
All-purpose flour works just fine in this pasta dough. No need to use specialty pasta flour — save buying that for if you realize you've fallen in love with pasta making and want to try getting a little fancy with it.

Ingredients

Pasta dough

200 grams all-purpose flour
2 eggs (large)
2 egg yolks (large)
⅛ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (a small pinch)
1-2 teaspoon olive oil (a small drizzle only if your dough is super dry)

Ravioli filling

170 grams whole milk ricotta cheese (a scant ¾ cup)
113 grams gorgonzola cheese (½ cup)
40 grams walnuts (toasted and very finely chopped)
⅓ cup crisp, flavorful apple (like pink lady, gala, or jazz) (minced)

Instructions

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The pasta dough

Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Make a well in the center. Pour the whole eggs, yolks, and 1 teaspoon olive oil into the well and whisk with a fork, gradually incorporating more flour in from the sides until you have a very thick, wet mixture in the middle.
Attach the dough hook and run the machine on low, pausing occasionally to push more flour from the sides into the center. Be patient and give it time to come together on its own as much as possible.
Once the dough comes together in a shaggy mass and there's no loose flour left in the bottom of the bowl (add the extra 1 teaspoon olive oil or water to the dry bits if they're not getting incorporated), up the speed to medium-low and knead on low until the dough is smooth, about 6-8 minutes. It will feel quite stiff.
Wrap the dough in plastic and let chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours before use.

The dough hydrates as it rests. Once the dough has been kneaded together, you'll shape it into a disc, wrap it in plastic, and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. When you come back to it, you'll notice it's much softer, a lot more flexible, and definitely not dry. Don't skip this step.

The filling

Drain the ricotta: Line a quarter sheet pan with two layers of paper towels. Spread the ricotta in a thin layer and cover with two more layers of paper towels, pressing them gently onto the surface of the cheese. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Toast the walnuts: Arrange whole walnuts on a sheet pan and toast in a 300°F oven for 10-15 minutes until well browned, giving the pan a shake every 5 minutes or so. Remove from the oven. Once cool, finely chop them and set aside.
Blend the cheeses: Combine the drained ricotta, gorgonzola cheese, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a mini food processor. Process on low just to combine and to break up the larger gorgonzola crumbles.
Stir together cheeses, finely chopped walnuts, minced apple (tossed with a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent browning) in a medium bowl. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and chill until ready to use.

For a smoother gorgonzola ravioli filling you can run it all through a food processor, but I find that takes away from the nice crunch of the apples and walnuts.

Ravioli assembly

Divide pasta dough in half. Keep dough you aren't using wrapped until ready to use.
Roll pasta dough to a "6" thinness using a pasta roller, starting with the widest setting on the roller. Roll the dough through twice on each setting so that it fully relaxes and doesn't shrink back. Dust with flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Lightly dust a clean countertop with flour and lay out the sheet of dough. Trim ends where they're lopsided so you have a clean rectangle.
Fold the dough in half lengthwise (so if it was 20"x5" it would now be 10"x5"). Unfold and cut where the crease was so that you have two equal sized sheets of pasta.
Dust additional flour under the sheet that will form the bottom of your ravioli so it doesn't stick to the counter. Use a pastry brush or dry paper towel to brush and excess flour off the surface of the pasta sheet.
Without cutting all the way through the pasta, use your ravioli stamp to lightly mark two rows of ravioli so you know where to place the filling. If using a circle cutter, leave about ¾-1" between each; If you're using a square ravioli cutter they can be much closer together or not have any gap at all.
Scoop 1½ teaspoon of the cheese filling into the center of each ravioli.

Add a few extra gorgonzola crumbles to the ravioli filling after you've spooned it out for extra prominent gorgonzola flavor. Consider cutting and testing one ravioli before you finish assembling the rest to get the balance of flavors just right.

Lay the other sheet of pasta over the filling. Working from the center outward, use your fingers to gentle smooth out the dough and seal the two layers together around the mounds of filling. Seal the outer edges of the pasta sheet last so to avoid trapping air bubbles.
Carefully place your ravioli stamp over each mound of filling and press down firmly to cut through the pasta and seal the edges shut. Pull up any excess dough and knead or combine together to re-roll later.

You can re-roll your pasta dough scraps as long as they don't have any filling on them. Just knead the scraps into a ball and let them rest for a bit before sending them through the roller again.

Gently pull ravioli up off the counter (use a bench scraper or thin metal spatula if they're sticking) and transfer to a lightly floured sheet pan to dry or cook immediately.

Cooking & serving

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook fresh ravioli for 3 minutes (4 minutes if they've dried slightly) without crowding the pan.
Serve with brown butter and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Video

Pasta Vegetarian Apple

Comments

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)