Presenting: Chocolate Chicken Marsala Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce

Chocolate Chicken Marsala Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce

After my struggles earlier this month with the crab ravioli, I wanted to revisit a ravioli dish. Mrs. Stuntman would call me makulit, which loosely translates to 'stubborn' in Tagalog, however I needed to properly use the ravioli press (i.e. confirm the damn thing wasn't a waste of money) and needed to regain my confidence with fresh pasta.

I return this time with a slightly more involved preparation for the filling and a colored pasta made from with baking chocolate.

The Challenge

Sucessfully execute a ravioli dish.

The Sources

I used the same about.com page I used for the herb speckled ravioli; a Tyler Florence recipe on foodnetwork.com for the filling and an alfredo sauce from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

For the filling:
8 ounces chicken breast, cut in strips
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/4 cup Marsala wine or chicken broth
4 thin slices prosciutto, sliced
4 bay leaves
Fresh thyme and parsley leaves
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated, divided
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream

For the pasta:
3 1/3 cups flour
3 ounces (80 grams) powdered baking chocolate
4 eggs
1 pinch kosher salt

For the sauce:
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Method

1. Make the filling: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until brown. Add shallots and garlic. Deglaze with the Marsala. Take pan away from heat source and flambé. Return pan to stove. (The flame will extinguish on it's own in about 1 minute.) Add prosciutto and herbs. Sprinkle in bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of olive oil to keep moist. Discard bay leaves. Pulse together all ingredients in a food processor. Add egg, cream, remaining Parmesan and olive oil. Pulse again. Chill while making the pasta dough.

2. Make the pasta dough: Omit the parsley, but add the cocoa with the salt. Otherwise, the instructions remain the same as the crab ravioli dish. (The link is above.)

3. Roll the dough: See the link above.

4. Make the ravioli: See the link above.

5. Make the sauce and finish the dish: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add in the ravioli and cook until the ravioli float to the top. Using a slotted spoon, remove the ravioli to a drain on a paper towel lined plate. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley. To plate, arrange ravioli in pasta bowls, spoon the alfredo over the ravioli and garnish with a parsley sprig.

Successful?

I was able to more effectively utilize the ravioli press, but still not to it's fullest potential. I realized that my pasta sheets weren't wide enough to accomodate all 12 ravioli spaces, so I only used one side, as demonstrated below.

I also spent less time completing the dish than my last attempt but it was still a marathon project. Also, you might have expected this pasta to be sweet due to the addition of the chocolate, but baking chocolate is unsweetened, so it was surprisingly savory. Ultimately, it was a little too rich but well worth the effort.