Ravioli ris e coi

“Ravioli ris e coi” is a dish typical of Genoese cuisine and represents a special version of ravioli filled with herbs, borage, and rice, often enriched with cheese and generally seasoned with a meat sauce or with butter and sage. Here is the recipe with ingredients and procedure:

Ingredients

• For the pasta:
  • 300 g of soft wheat flour
  • 3 eggs
• For the filling:
  • 200 g of borage (or alternatively spinach)
  • 100 g of rice
  • 50 g of grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Nutmeg (optional)
• To season:
  • Butter to taste
  • Sage leaves
  • Grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Start preparing the pasta: arrange the flour in a mound on a pastry board, break the eggs into the center and knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Let the dough rest covered with a cloth for at least 30 minutes.
2. In the meantime, clean the borage and cook it in boiling salted water for a few minutes. Drain and squeeze out all the water.
3. Also boil the rice in salted water until it is al dente. Drain and let it cool.
4. Finely chop the cooked borage and mix it with the rice, whole egg, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.
5. Roll out the rested pasta using a rolling pin or a pasta machine, obtaining two thin sheets.
6. Place small mounds of the filling on one of the sheets, spaced apart.
7. Cover with the other sheet, press around the filling to remove air and cut out the ravioli with a pastry cutter or a cookie cutter.
8. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the ravioli for about 3-5 minutes until they float to the surface.
9. Melt the butter in a pan and let it flavor with some sage leaves.
10. Gently drain the ravioli and dress them in the sage butter, sprinkle with grated Parmesan before serving.

This was the traditional way to make “ravioli ris e coi”, but if you would like to give an Italian touch to other cuisines, you could for example add ricotta to the filling or replace the rice with pre-cooked Genoese-style risotto, for an even richer flavor.

Curiosity

The name “ris e coi” comes from Genoese and literally means “rice and with”, emphasizing the presence of rice among the ingredients of the ravioli filling, combined with the herbs. This dish reflects the Ligurian peasant tradition of using simple and local ingredients.