Homemade Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Spinach filling in a delicious creamy Mushroom and Parmesan sauce. Learn how to make ravioli completely from scratch into a complete meal. I use a ravioli mold for this recipe.
My ravioli mold proved once again that 26 bucks I spent on it was not a waste of money. If you want to see what kind of ravioli mold I use here, scroll down for lots step-by-step photos and you’ll see what the ravioli mold looks like. After I posted my first recipe for ravioli in a red, tomato-based sauce, I got obsessed with the thought of making the homemade ravioli from scratch in a different type of sauce, this time – white, creamy, and cheese-based. So, I made these Homemade Ravioli Recipe with Goat Cheese and Spinach filling in a delicious creamy Mushroom and Parmesan sauce. And, I didn’t want ravioli to be filled just with cheese as most store-bought ravioli seem to be: instead I wanted a veggie and creamy ravioli filling, and goat cheese and spinach proved to be a perfect match for each other. I am very happy to present you with this simple recipe for ravioli with goat cheese and spinach filling in a light Parmesan cream sauce with mushrooms.
The accompanying sauce is pretty basic but it’s made completely from scratch: cheese and cream with sauteed mushrooms and garlic plus seasonings. The sauce lightly coats ravioli creating the perfect creaminess to complement the pasta. The ravioli filling, made with goat cheese, chopped spinach, and nutmeg plays a leading role in this recipe, with each ingredient contributing something different to the overall flavor: goat cheese provides richness and creaminess, spinach – savory side, and nutmeg contributes sweetness with a savory accent.
Ravioli mold did a great job this time, just like before. 100% of my ravioli came out free of air pockets, and upon boiling 24 ravioli (double the recipe here), only 2 of them got little cracks in pasta and even that because I overfilled some of them with the filling and the pasta dough got really thin in some places and burst. None of ravioli got open along the seams. The texture of pasta dough was perfect, too: so soft and thin and yet just of the right consistency to keep ravioli together.
I absolutely recommend this recipe: it’s easy, it’s creamy, it’s vegetarian. You could serve it as is, or with chicken or fish. Definitely a crowd-pleaser.
How to make ravioli with spinach and goat cheese filling from scratch
Below are some photos illustrating major steps of how to make ravioli from scratch, how to make ravioli filling, and then how to make the mushroom and parmesan sauce. These photos just help you see what tools I used and some of the processes. But, for the complete recipe, make sure to scroll down below the photos.
Wrap pasta dough in a plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for 1 hour for gluten to do its work
Cooking spinach – for ravioli filling
Cooked spinach – for ravioli filling
Goat cheese and parmesan cheese – for ravioli filling
Goat cheese and parmesan cheese – for ravioli filling
Mixing everything together for ravioli filling: spinach, goat cheese, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper
Rolling dough into 2 equal parts
Flour ravioli mold, especially the bottom of indentations
Place one layer of ravioli dough on top of floured ravioli mold
Place small amount of goat cheese and spinach filling into the mold indentations, making sure not to overfill (filling should be at the same level as the flat area of the ravioli mold)
Cover with the second layer of pasta dough
Ravioli mold covered with the two layers of dough with the filling in between
Using roller pin, roll along the surface of the ravioli mold to remove air pockets and seal ravioli
Remove outer portion of the pasta dough
Using roller pin, roll along the edges of individual ravioli to separate them from one another
Flip the ravioli mold to release ravioli
Saute mushrooms and garlic in olive oil
Deglaze with a little bit of wine
Add half-and-half, bring to boil, remove from heat, then add parmesan cheese
Mix until parmesan cheese is melted. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
Add cooked ravioli to the sauce
Learn how to make ravioli from scratch at home using a ravioli mold. Then, you can make these delicious homemade ravioli filled with goat cheese and spinach and smothered in a creamy mushroom and Parmesan cheese cream sauce.
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup spinach , cooked
- 2 oz goat cheese
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 lb mushrooms sliced
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/4 cup chives chopped, for garnish
Mix flour with salt.
Stir water with egg until well mixed.
In a bowl, combine flour and egg-water mixture together and mix until well incorporated. Sprinke some flour over working surface and over your hands as you knead the dough. Knead the dough until well-textured and firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky. It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. It should not be too dry, either. Make the dough into a ball or disk, wrap with plastic wrap. Let the dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using. This allows gluten to work.
This amount of dough enough to make dough for 12 raviolis, using the mold (ravioli mold makes 12 ravioli). If you need to make 24 ravioli, make a second batch of this dough.
If you don't have cooked spinach on hand, cook spinach until wilted and all liquid is gone. All liquid should be evaporated – it’s important. Chop spinach.
Soften goat cheese by heating it up in microwave oven for about 5-10 seconds.
Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl: chopped spinach, goat cheese, Parmesan cheese. Add a little bit of nutmeg to taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Your filling should not be runny, it should be pretty firm, which is why it’s important to make sure spinach has no liquid from step 1. If your filling is a bit runny from softened cheese, put the bowl with ravioli filling in the refrigerator to firm up.
Unwrap ravioli dough from plastic, divide in 2 equal parts. Flour working area. Roll out each part of pasta dough very thinly, on a floured surface, using a roller. Make sure to flour the upper portion of pasta dough and the roller to avoid sticking. Lift the rolled dough several times during rolling to make sure it doesn’t stick to the counter, and flour working surface with more flour, if necessary.
Flour the ravioli mold. After you have rolled the 2 portions of dough very thinly, place first layer of dough on the ravioli mold, so that it covers all 12 holes.
Place a small portion of ravioli filling into each indentation, making sure not to overfill. The filling should be at the same level or lower as the flat part of the mold. Place second layer of pasta dough on top of filled ravioli.
Using a roller pin, roll across the mold and along the edges to separate ravioli. As you roll the pin, it also removes all air from ravioli, which is very important for ravioli success. By now you should have extra dough hanging off the outside 4 edges of ravioli mold – carefully separate it. Continue rolling the pin along the inside edges of 12 raviolis to separate them from one another: you could also use your fingers to press across the edges to separate ravioli.
Flip ravioli mold to release ravioli. Bring a large pot of water to boil Boil ravioli for 5 minutes, drain and set aside – to be used with sauce below.
Or, alternatively, if you’re not using ravioli right away, place them on a plate or baking sheet in the freezer to freeze. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, a bit of nutmeg and cook for about 7 minutes until mushrooms soften and garlic is fragrant.
Add half-and-half, bring to boil. Remove from heat, add grated parmesan cheese, mix until cheese is melted and mixture thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.
After you have boiled ravioli for 5 minutes, drain them and add ravioli to the sauce to coat. To serve, place ravioli and sauce on plates. Garnish with with chopped chives or leeks.
More ravioli recipes:
When you freeze these, how long do you recommend for cooking?
If using frozen ravioli, I would bring a pot of water to boil, add the frozen ravioli and cook them for about 7 or 8 minutes.
I have made this 3 times now and the recipe is delicious! and the pasta perfect. I did add to the sauce, on the 2nd go around, some fresh squeezed lemon juice and capers for pop! Very good! I will say, though, that I was not a fan of the ravioli maker and went back to my hand tools. I like a good, plump ravioli and you just can’t get that on these devices
Thank you, Lynda, for sharing how you made these ravioli! So happy you liked them! Adding freshly squeezed lemon juice and capers is a great idea!
Making this for dinner tonight, and noticed that in the ingredients list for the cream sauce that you have listed using white wine. I do not see that in part of the directions. Am I missing something?
I have been wanting to try this for about 10 months now! I lucked up and found the William Sonoma ravioli maker at Target and bookmarked this recipe for my first attempt. 🙂 But…I’m stuck at the first step–literally. I mixed the flour with the hot water & egg mixture but the dough is very sticky so I’m not sure how to knead. I notice you said that the dough shouldn’t be too sticky or too dry. Any thoughts on why mine might be too sticky given that I used your exact measurements?
I think what would help is sprinkling some flour over working surface and over your hands as you knead the dough. Then, it wouldn’t be sticky but would be very elastic. I will update the recipe to include that. 🙂
I did sprinkle flour on my surface. However, the dough just wasn’t at the right consistency to be able to roll it into a ball. Does this recipe require using a “special mixer with dough attachments?” I used a hand mixer because that’s all I had on hand. I’m determined to get this right. 🙂 Note: I meant to say I purchased my Williams-Sonoma ravioli mold w/roller from TJ Maxx (just in case someone else is looking for one).
UK here. So what is ‘half-and-half’ please?
Ravioli prepared, waiting to go! 🙂
Chris, did some research, US half and half is actually what’s called half cream in the UK. Half and half is the US milk product that combines half milk half cream to form a lighter cream (unlike heavy cream). Half and half is still creamy and perfect for sauces, but it’s not thick as heavy cream so you can’t whip it to make whipped cream, for instance. Here is a good article: http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Half-And-Half.htm