Crab ravioli with a lobster bisque sauce

Ingredients

For the pasta;

550g ‘00’ flour

4 whole eggs

6 egg yolks

1tblsp olive oil

Salt to taste

For the Ravioli;

200g fresh crab meat

2 shallots

2 cloves garlic

1tblsp chopped chives and chervil mixed

Seasoning

1 egg white

For the Lobster Bisque Sauce;

1kg lobster shells

1kg langoustine shells

200ml of brandy

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic

2 sticks celery

2 carrots

50g tomato puree

400ml white wine

6 tomatoes

1tsp paprika

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of ½ lemon

250ml double cream

100g unsalted butter cut into small cubes

Method;

For the pasta;

Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth. Using the tips of your fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined. Knead the pieces of dough together  they’ll all bind together to give you one big, smooth lump of dough!
You can also make your dough in a food processor if you’ve got one. Just place everything in, blend until the flour looks like breadcrumbs, then tip the mixture on to your work surface and bring the dough together into one lump, using your hands.
Once you’ve made your dough you need to knead and work it with your hands to develop the gluten in the flour, otherwise your pasta will be flabby and soft when you cook it, instead of springy and al dente.
There’s no secret to kneading. You just have to work the dough hard with your hands, squashing it into the table, reshaping it, pulling it, stretching it, and squashing it again. When your pasta starts to feel smooth and silky instead of rough and floury, then the dough is ready. When ready wrap in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour before you use it. Make sure the cling film covers it well or it will dry out and go crusty round the edges.

For the crab ravioli filling;

Finely chop shallots and garlic and combine with crab meat. Add chopped chervil and chives and seasoning to taste. Add 1 egg and mix well.

For the lobster bisque sauce;

In a large saucepan, fry lobster shells and prawn shells in a little olive oil for 5mins. Add the brandy and flambé. Add chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrot, and fry for a further 5mins. Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 2-3mins, stirring all the time. Add the white wine and reduce until almost evaporated. Add chopped tomatoes, paprika and bay leaf, season to taste, and stir well. Cover with water and bring to boil and then gently simmer for 1 hour, skimming the surface periodically to remove scum.

Pass through a fine-meshed sieve and return to saucepan and gently reduce to half the volume. Gently whisk in double cream and bring back to the boil, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until sauce thickens, add lemon juice and add seasoning to taste.

To Serve;

Roll the pasta as directed in the pasta recipe on this blog under base recipes.

Lay the sheets onto a work surface and cut with a large pastry ring. Place tablespoon of filling into the middle of each pasta ring. Brush around the filling with the beaten egg and place another pasta ring over the top. Press down around the filling to remove any air bubbles. Place the ravioli’s onto a well floured surface and continue with the same process with the other 3 quarters of pasta dough.

Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the water and cook the ravioli in batches until all are cooked al dente.

Drain and serve in large bowl with lobster bisque sauce. Garnish with micro cress, wilted spinach and tomato concasse.