Wild Mushroom Ravioli at Home, Inspired by Umile Trattoria

Umile Trattoria, the Italian BYOB at 211 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield, lists a Wild Mushroom Ravioli on its menu: a mushroom and shallot duxelles filling, black garlic fonduta, sauteed baby spinach and toasted tuxedo sesame seeds. This is a home version you can make on a Sunday afternoon. It is not Umile's recipe, and it will not taste exactly like theirs. It will make your kitchen smell great.

What's on Umile's plate

Per the restaurant's menu page, the dish has four parts: a mushroom and shallot filling, a fonduta (an Italian melted cheese sauce) with black garlic, spinach and black and white sesame. The site posts more than one menu, and the ravioli shows up at $23 on one and $29 on another, so check which menu you are ordering from. The catering menu offers it by the tray, too.

Our home version keeps those four parts. The pasta and filling follow olive magazine's wild mushroom ravioli, which serves 4 as a starter. The sauce is a half batch of Food and Wine's Italian fontina fonduta. The black garlic, spinach and sesame are our additions to get closer to Umile's plate.

Pasta dough

• 300g (about 2 1/2 cups) 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Semolina, for dusting

Put the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well. Add the eggs and yolks and whisk with a fork, pulling in flour from the edges. When it clumps, bring it together by hand, adding water a teaspoon at a time if it is too dry. Knead about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and chill at least 1 hour.

Mushroom and shallot filling

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 250g (about 9 ounces) mushrooms, finely chopped (olive magazine uses chestnut mushrooms; a mix of cremini, shiitake and oyster leans more "wild")
• 2 long shallots, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
• 150g (about 2/3 cup) ricotta
• Salt and pepper

Fry the mushrooms with a pinch of salt in the oil over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, until the liquid is gone and they start to brown. Add the shallots for 5 minutes, then garlic for 2, then the thyme. olive magazine blends this to a smooth puree before folding in the ricotta. For a chunkier, duxelles-style filling closer to the menu description, chop very fine and skip the blender. Cool, fold in the ricotta and season.

Fill and shape

Roll the dough through a pasta machine, two passes per setting, down to the second-thinnest. Spoon egg-yolk-size mounds of filling on one sheet, about 2 inches apart. Wet the dough around them, lay a second sheet on top and press out the air. Stamp out with a round cutter and set on a tray heavily dusted with semolina. Let them dry about an hour.

Black garlic fonduta

• 8 ounces Italian fontina, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 to 3 cloves black garlic, mashed to a paste (our addition)
• Salt and white pepper

Warm the fontina, milk and cream in a saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until the cheese starts to melt, about 4 minutes. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the butter, yolks and black garlic paste until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Season lightly. Keep the heat low the whole time or the cheese will turn grainy.

Finish

Toast a tablespoon each of black and white sesame seeds in a dry pan until fragrant. Wilt a few big handfuls of baby spinach in a little olive oil with salt. Cook the ravioli in well-salted boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Lift them out gently with a slotted spoon. Spoon fonduta into warm bowls, add spinach and ravioli, then a sprinkle of sesame.

Or let Umile cook

Umile is closed Mondays and open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Haddonfield is dry, so bring your own bottle. Our Umile Trattoria guide covers the rest of the menu, reservations and the private King's Table room.

FAQ

Is this Umile Trattoria's recipe? No. It is a home version built on olive magazine's wild mushroom ravioli and Food and Wine's Italian fontina fonduta. Umile's recipe stays in its kitchen.

Do I need a pasta machine? The olive magazine recipe calls for one. A rolling pin works if you roll the dough very thin, but expect it to take longer.

Can I make the ravioli ahead? Yes. olive magazine says to freeze them well coated in semolina for up to three months and cook from frozen for 4 to 5 minutes.

Sources

• Umile Trattoria food menu
• olive magazine: Wild mushroom ravioli
• Food and Wine: Italian Fontina Fonduta

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