This week I was very inspired by a dish I saw on Masterchef. A smoked egg yolk ravioli in a green and yellow striped pasta dough. After heading to the farmers market, I spoke with an Italian meat expert, who sold me the last bit of guanciale. A delicious Italian bacon made from the cheek of the pig, which is traditionally used for carbonara. So, I decided to make a hybrid of an egg yolk ravioli and a carbonara recipe. This is my egg yolk ravioli carbonara in a green pasta dough!

Farmers Market Shopping for Ravioli Carbonara

The first day of summer is marked by the opening of the farmers market. For me. So, when I woke up last Thursday, I got out of bed and pretty much ran to my car. I parked across from the market in the town hall parking lot and emerged into a field of food tents with my shopping bags in hand. 

My first stop was the chicken guy, who my mom used to visit. She would buy chicken salad by the pound, always fixated on a certain food. I’m a bit like her, in that sense, and I have been really enjoying caesar salad lately… Anyway, I said hi to the chicken guy, who is a reserved, yet kind-seeming man with a baseball cap. He always keeps his hands in his pockets. I picked up chicken salad for my mom. Then, I shuffled over to a stand filled with baked goods. They had cheddar bacon scones, which made me crave my loaded baked potato scones. I need to make them again! All of their pastries looked good, but they were too expensive for me. And it feels weird to buy baked goods when I bake so often.

Buying Italian Meats

After that, I traced through the thick grass towards the farm stand, the largest vendor with dozens of varieties of potted plants, herbs, tubers, and vegetables. I scanned through potato varieties, lots of lettuce mixes, and hoped to find rhubarb. At the end of the row I spotted bundles of red, pink, and green stems, wrapped in rubber bands. I picked out the most vibrant red I could find. Then, I looked through the greens and asked about sorrel, a vegetable I’m admittedly unfamiliar with. The woman working, wearing a sunhat, said that the green leaves taste like lemon. She recommended making soup. I thought about buying a bag for a moment, but decided to just go with my rhubarb. That ended up being the last day of sorrel season, sadly.

Next I checked out another farm stand and picked out some butter lettuce. Then, I found myself marveling at a list of hand-made meats, as if I was back in Italy looking at a sandwich menu. They had finocchiona, a Tuscan fennel salami, guanciale, even ‘nduja and chorizo. The owner gave me some samples to taste. Two types of salami, one spicy, one sweet. But he explained “sweet” is a misnomer, only meant to signify not being spicy. Then, I tried pepperoni, ‘nduja, and a special pork spread that I can’t remember the name of. On a cracker. He told me his daughter was studying in Florence, ironically, and I bought a small brick of guanciale. So excited to drive home and get to work in the kitchen. 

Creating My Ravioli Carbonara Recipe

I started by sketching out an idea of what my ravioli would look like. I wanted a green dough to contrast the yellow egg yolk and yellow carbonara sauce. So, I found a fresh bundle of carrots in the fridge and decided to use their leaves in the pasta dough. I blended them with my eggs and made a well in a mound of 00 flour. I slowly incorporated the green eggs into the dough with a chopstick and began to knead. After a few minutes and a light sprinkle of flour, I had a perfectly plump ball of green pasta dough. You know it’s ready when it springs back when you poke it. I wrapped it and put it to rest in the fridge so the gluten could relax. 

Next, I decided to make a filling and separate my egg yolks in advance. I carefully cracked eggs and danced the white out into a bowl. I placed the half shells with the unbroken egg yolks back in the carton, ready to go for my recipe. Then, I rummaged through the fridge for ricotta. We had none. My ravioli carbonara recipe uses ricotta, even though there’s not ricotta in carbonara. Simply because it’s just more traditional for ravioli, and it helps hold the egg yolk in place. I ended up using cream cheese and sour cream to make a pipe-able cheese mix. With a touch of lemon and parmesan for flavor. I prepared the ingredients for my sauce, too, slicing my guanciale into thick chunks. I also mixed eggs with fresh parmesan for my ravioli carbonara sauce. 

Egg Yolk Ravioli Making

Once the pasta dough was rested, I cut it into quarters. Then, I rolled out sheets. I lightly floured my sheets and readied my cheese mix in a piping bag. After piping thick rings for the egg yolks to sit in, I carefully took my egg yolk cups and dropped them into the cheese circles. Without breaking the yolk. Then I carefully placed another sheet of pasta on top and lightly pressed down to secure them. The trick is to use two ring cutters. One should be only just larger than the ring of cheese, and one the size you want your ravioli to be. Take the first ring cutter and use the non-sharp side. Place it down onto the dough and press down (don’t use your hands or you could get cut). Then, simply use the larger ring cutter to cut out your ravioli.

This secures the filling inside of the ravioli and makes sure it doesn’t burst when cooking. You’ll end up with perfectly round and secured green egg yolk ravioli. Next, I started my ravioli carbonara pasta sauce, which begins by rendering guanciale. Once rendered, turn off the heat and let the fat cool down, which helps emulsify the sauce with your pasta water, egg, and cheese. The guanciale should be golden brown and crispy, yet slightly chewy. Use a low-medium heat to be careful. Once you’re ready with your egg/parmesan mix, your pan of guanciale and fat, and your ravioli made, boil some water. And make sure you salt your water! I do it right before putting the pasta in. 

Guanciale + Carbonara Sauce

To make things easier, I placed a raviolo onto a small plate, which I lowered into the water. Rather than throwing the delicate parcel into boiling water with my hands. Since they’re big, I’d recommend cooking them one at a time. Right when your pasta begins to cook, take about a 1/4 cup of pasta water and pour it into your guanciale pan. It will sizzle and start to come together. To make your sauce smooth, add your egg and parmesan mixture and whisk rapidly. Turn the heat back on if you need to, but there should be enough heat left. You are looking for a velvety, viscous pastel yellow color. Not so thick that it’s like Mac and cheese sauce, but not so thin that it’s watery.

The raviolo cooks for exactly 2 minutes. You can give it an extra 15-30 seconds if you like your egg yolks a little more jammy than runny. Pop it onto a plate and spoon carbonara sauce on top. Top with parmesan and fresh black pepper. I add extra guanciale for garnish, too. I was so excited to eat this ravioli carbonara, and honestly couldn’t believe how great it turned out. My mind was brought back to a moment when I was a teenager, when I got a pasta machine for my birthday. The first time I tried to make homemade pasta.

The First Time I Made Homemade Pasta

My dad was watching the Red Sox. It felt like an important game. My mom was in the living room and I was in the kitchen, moaning and groaning with every failed roll of pasta. The dough was hard to knead. Stiff. The machine wouldn’t flatten it. It started to break and become brittle with each roll. I folded it on top of itself, which made it worse. There was too much flour. I finally wrestled enough with the dough to have something passable, and decided to make ravioli. Not a simple pappardelle like I should have. Of course, the filling was too thin. The dough was misshapen and wouldn’t seal. They burst open when boiling. It was a complete disaster. 

I was so young at that moment, but back then it felt like the end of the world. I had such high expectations for myself and really struggled with perfectionism. All of my self worth was derived from cooking amazing things for my family. So, learning that I had a lot to learn still was a wake up call. And it really taught me a lot about keeping my cool and being patient when things go wrong. I had a meltdown, of course, and I think we ended up ordering Chinese food. So, it was a little shocking to see how far I’ve come, at age 28 now, easily making an advanced type of ravioli.

Taste Test + Runny Yolk

So – how was my ravioli carbonara? Amazing. The egg yolk was perfectly runny and mingled with the carbonara sauce. The filling was velvety, and the pasta was perfectly cooked. Slightly chewy. The carrot green taste is subtle, which provides a little earthiness. The sauce is luscious and reminds me so much of carbonara. The best part is the crunchy, chewy, rich Italian bacon. It provided saltiness and richness to a very luxurious, creamy dish. Next time I might dare to smoke the egg yolks to elevate the dish even more. But, for now, simplicity is best. And this was really really good.

I hope this inspires you to make pasta. Ravioli carbonara. Carbonara. You don’t have to start with ravioli – you can make a simple noodle with just flour and eggs and a rolling pin. This reawakened my passion for pasta, too, so you can expect to see more pasta dishes in the future. Although, they’re really hard to paint. So we’ll see!

If you enjoyed this recipe and like my paintings, you can check out my 100’s of art prints and recipe cards on Etsy. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off. Thank you for reading!

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Egg Yolk Ravioli Carbonara

A luxurious hybrid dish of carbonara and egg yolk ravioli.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword carbonara, pasta recipes, ravioli

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 240 g Tipo 00 flour
• 1 cup carrot greens
• 5 eggs + 6 eggs
• 6-8 egg yolks
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1/3 cup parmesan + 3/4 cup
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 6-8 oz guanciale
• Fresh black pepper

Instructions

• Place your flour in a large bowl and carve out a small well in the center to hold the eggs.
• In a blender, blend 5 eggs with 1 cup carrot greens (the leafy parts of the carrots, not the stems).
• Pour the green egg mixture into the well in the flour. Slowly combine with a fork or chopstick.
• Once the dough is cohesive, dump the mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is elastic and smooth and springs back when pressed.
• Wrap dough in cling film and transfer to fridge for at least 30 minutes to relax the gluten.
• Meanwhile, separate 6-8 egg yolks (as many ravioli as you will make) and keep them in their half shell in the egg carton. Do not use an egg yolk if it breaks.
• Make your ricotta filling by combining the ricotta, 1/3 cup parmesan, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer to a piping bag to prepare for filling pasta.
• Once pasta is rested, cut into 4 pieces and place 3 pieces back in fridge, wrapped, while you roll out your first sheet.
• To roll out each sheet, press dough into a flat, thin piece and lightly flour. Roll in a pasta maker on the 1 setting, then 3, 5, and finally 7. Lightly flour if need be before each roll. You will have a long, thin sheet of pasta. Cut the sheet in half if you need more room on your counter.
• Repeat with each quarter of the pasta dough until you have a collection of thin pasta sheets. Keep your work surface lightly floured to prevent sticking.
• Before starting your ravioli, slice and cook guanciale in a sauté pan on low-medium until rendered (golden and crispy). Turn off pan. Do not discard fat.
• To shape each raviolo, pipe a ring of ricotta filling just larger than your egg yolk. Carefully place an egg yolk in the ring without breaking the yolk.
• Place another sheet of pasta dough on top of your prepared ravioli, and lightly press around the edges of the cheese ring. To secure the dough and cut the ravioli, use a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cheese ring. Flip the ring over so the sharp side is up (be careful and don’t press down with your fingers). Press down lightly into the dough. Then, with a larger ring cutter, cut out your desired ravioli shape (1-2 inches larger than the smaller cutter).
• When you have all 6-8 of your ravioli prepared, lightly flour a plate or counter and leave them to rest. Heat a large stock pot of water over high.
• While water is heating, prepare your carbonara sauce by mixing 6 eggs with 3/4 cup parmesan.
• Once water is boiling, one at a time cook your ravioli for 2 minutes and transfer to a plate to serve.
• Once ravioli is ready, take a large ladleful of pasta water and add to your lukewarm guanciale pan. Then, add your egg and parmesan mixture and whisk to combine into a silky sauce.
• Plate each raviolo with a few tablespoons of carbonara sauce and crispy guanciale. Top with parmesan and sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Notes

• If you want your guanciale more crispy, remove from pan before adding the pasta water and making the sauce. 
• You can make this recipe for one – use 85 grams of 00 flour per person and 1 egg. 
• If you want your egg yolk more jammy than runny, boil for 2 1/2 – 3 minutes.