Giovanna Bellia La Marca spent her childhood in Ragusa, Sicily before moving with her parents to New York. Here she shares the recipe for ‘ravioli ragusani’ – which is in fact a mixture of ricotta filled ravioli (with added sugar and orange zest) and cavatelli pasta, served with a pork ragu. It is from an time when sugar was treated like a spice and could pop up in any course, not just dessert. It’s definitely A Thing in southern Italy – and we have filmed it a couple of times before.
Giovanna has also written a cookery book on Sicilian food which you can find on Amazon. The ingredients for her recipe is below. And PS this video is longer than usual – what do you think?.
Pasta dough
1 1/2 cups semolina flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2-4 Tablespoons of water (depending on egg size)
Ricotta Filling
1 1/2 lbs fresh Italian Deli Ricotta, drained
4 Tablespoons sugar
Grated rind of 1 orange
Pork Ragú – Sugo di Maiale
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
red pepper flakes (optional)
two 28 ounce can peeled Italian San Marzano tomatoes +1/2 can water
If available: 2 Tablespoons Stratto from Ragusa dissolved in 1/2 cup water
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 2 tablespoon fennel seeds, whole or ground
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into large cubes
1 1/2 lbs Italian pork sausage, each link cut in half
1 cup wine, red or white, good table wine,