Spinach and ricotta coloured ravioli

Method
Prep:1hr  ›  Cook:1hr  ›  Ready in:2hr 

1. The flour is poured into 3 separate donut shapes, 2 eggs are cracked into the middle of each and then the tomato, spinach and olive oil are added to one donut share each. Use your hands to fold together, then knead for about 10 to 12 minutes. Rather than sticking to an exact time, you FEEL the dough turn from a floury in-cohesive clump to a firm-yet-elastic clump. Err on the side of over-kneading if you're unsure, it'll just make for softer more pliable pasta. Next take child-fist-sized chunks (OK, not an official measuring unit, but it makes sense to me) and either flatten with a rolling pin or use a pasta maker to make rectangles approximately 2mm thick, 10cm wide and 30cm long.
2. Meanwhile...cook the filling: Fry off 1/2 the garlic and 1/2 the onion, add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes, allow to cool slightly then combine with the ricotta cheese.
3. Meanwhile...cook the sauce: Fry off the carrot, remaining onion and garlic for 5 minutes on low heat. Add the mince (or mushroom) and the red wine and let it reduce for 10 minutes before adding the passata and cooking for 30 minutes until the sauce is reduced.
4. Then…combine to make the ravioli: Using a teaspoon, make 5 small evenly spaced dollops of ricotta mixture along the middle a pasta rectangle, ensuring the end dollops are at least 1.5cm from the edge. Fold the pasta over the dollops and use your fingers to seal around each dollop before cutting out the ravioli shape. You want to leave just under a centimetre of pasta around the dollop: enough to ensure its properly sealed but not so much that the pasta flavour overrides the filling flavour. Then repeat with all of the pasta rectangles, keep aside all the pasta that you cut away and re roll this later. If you’re anything like me the first rectangle will produce a motley crew of over sized, leaking ravioli pieces, but a bit of practice will improve the look and by the end of it you'll have sleek and sexy pasta ripiena pieces (stuffed pasta pieces).
5. Lastly…cook and serve: Cook the ravioli in salted, boiling water for approximately 8 minutes then drain and stir through the sauce then serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Delicious.

Parmesan cheese

Parmesan cheese is not truly vegetarian, as it contains animal rennet. To make this dish 100% vegetarian, omit the cheese or find a suitable vegetarian substitute made without animal rennet. In supermarkets look for the 'parmesan style hard cheeses' which are suitable for vegetarians.