Ravioles Du Dauphiné (French-Style Ravioli) Recipe

Ravioles du Dauphiné are French ravioli originating from the Dauphiné region of Southeastern France. They were commonly consumed after Lent in the Middle Ages, either filled with meat or root vegetables like turnips. Eventually tastes changed, and now they're usually filled with cheese. Ravioles du Dauphiné became internet famous when French chefs in cities such as New York and Toronto started serving the ravioli in the form of sheets, with an enthusiastic reception. You can often see these ravioli sheets layered and cooked into a gratin in France.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for ravioles du Dauphiné that allows you to enjoy this delicious restaurant-quality dish in the comfort of your own home. Making the fresh pasta dough and filling the ravioli does take some time, but the result is such a creamy, herby, mouthwatering dish that we think it's worth it. We use a vintage ravioli mold to create small ravioli grouped into sheets of 12 pieces each just like in the trending restaurants, but if you don't have a mold you can make the ravioli with a ravioli cutter.

The ingredients blend together harmoniously. Nutty Comté, tangy crème fraîche, and refreshing herbs make for a delicate and fragrant filling. The emulsified beurre monté sauce coats the ravioli with a warm, rich, silky layer that adds the perfect finishing touch to the dish — without overwhelming the taste of the filling as other sauces could do.

For the pasta dough, you will need 00 flour, salt, and large eggs. The filling calls for crème fraîche and Comté cheese as the main ingredients, as well as salt, black pepper, parsley, chives, and thyme. The beurre monté sauce is made with water and unsalted butter. Finally, have minced parsley, grated Parmesan, and more black pepper on hand for garnish.

Arrange the flour and salt on a work surface in a round nest shape with a depression in the center.

Place the eggs into the center and beat them with a fork, mixing the flour with the eggs a little at a time until the dough firms up.

Use your hands to keep mixing and then press and knead the dough a little until you can form a rough ball.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 10-15 minutes until it's smooth and elastic and springs back when pressed. Wet your hands with water if the dough won't hold together or add a tablespoon of flour if it's wet and sticking.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the crème fraîche, Comté, parsley, chives, thyme, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Transfer the filling to a piping bag and set aside.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and shape 1 piece into a rectangle. Rewrap all dough not currently being worked, including any scraps.

Run the piece of dough through the thickest setting on a pasta machine. Fold over the short ends to square the edges and run the piece through again on the same setting.

Continue to roll the dough through the machine, selecting the next thinnest setting each time. Stop rolling when the dough is just under 1 millimeter thick (often the second to last setting).

Place part of the rolled sheet of dough over 12 depressions in a ravioli mold and lightly press the dough down to line the depressions.

Pipe filling into each depression to fill them completely but not higher than the upper border of the mold.

Fold the dough over to cover the filling and simultaneously press the air out of each ravioli. Use a rolling pin to roll the top firmly enough to seal but not hard enough to cut the ravioli into individual pieces.

Remove the ravioli sheet from the mold and trim the 4 outer edges with a ravioli cutter. Repeat the process with the remaining dough and set the sheets aside on a towel to dry slightly.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Meanwhile, start making the beurre monté by heating the water in a small saucepan until it comes to a boil.

Lower the heat to a low simmer and add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking each time until emulsified. Do not raise the heat above a bare simmer.

When the pasta water boils, place 2 ravioli sheets in the water, lower the heat to a gentle boil, and let them cook until they float, about 2 minutes.

Spoon a little butter onto 2 individual dishes and then carefully remove the ravioli sheets with a strainer and place them on the butter, spooning a little more butter on top. Cook and plate the remaining ravioli sheets in the same way.

Garnish the ravioli sheets with parsley, Parmesan, and black pepper.

Serve immediately.

Avoiding common pasta dough mistakes will help your fresh egg pasta dough come out correctly and ensure it is easier to work with. The classic Italian recipe calls for 100 grams of 00 (double zero) flour per 55-57 grams of egg, which is the equivalent of one large egg in the United States. 100 grams of 00 flour, or 3 ½ ounces, is a little over ¾ of a cup, but the measure will be more accurate if you can use a scale to weigh it in grams or ounces. It really doesn't hurt to weigh the eggs too.

Knead the dough for the full 10-15 minutes. Don't worry about over-kneading — it's very difficult to over-knead pasta dough by hand. During the first few minutes of kneading the dough may be too dry and crumbly or too wet and sticky. Add a very small amount of water if it's dry (wet your hands instead of pouring water on the dough), or sprinkle a little flour on it if it's wet and sticking to your hands. Be very conservative. Add a little and knead for another minute before deciding if it's enough. The goal is to end up with a smooth dough ball that's elastic, meaning it springs back when you press it with a fingertip. Finally, don't skip the resting step or it will shrink back when you try to roll it out.

Beurre monté, or mounted butter in French, is an emulsified butter sauce. In simple terms, an emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that normally cannot be mixed together. For example, if you shake a bottle of oil and vinegar. The agitation from whisking melted butter into simmering water allows an emulsion to form because the butter separates into tiny droplets that disperse into the water and develop a mechanical stability that prevents separation.

Beurre monté is used as a finishing sauce like in this recipe, and it can also be used to poach vegetables or fish or to enhance other sauces. Regular melted butter is thin and has variations in color because the fat and water separate as the butter melts. On the other hand, emulsified beurre monté is a thicker, silky, creamy, luxurious sauce that coats ravioli to perfection. It won't separate and drip off the food like melted butter does.

Despite the fancy name, it's quite simple to make. Just bring the water to a simmer and then whisk the butter into the simmering water one tablespoon at a time. However, keep a few important points in mind. Make sure the butter is cold, only use a little water, and never bring the water above a gentle simmer. If the water boils the butter will melt too fast (an emulsion needs to form slowly) and the water will evaporate.