The best ravioli we have made so far, out of many good raviolis, started with leftovers. You see, we had some friends over on the spur of the moment a few days ago after singing (because we wanted to hang out but felt rather too broke to go out) which lead to cooking more or less everything in the fridge. Which wasn't much.
The upshot was that the next afternoon we had a yogurt container full of cold sauteed random stuff which needed to feel useful. Specifically; kale, radicchio, fennel bulb, and onion that had been cooked with some chiang kai vinigar and a little bit of sesame oil. If you haven't tried it (which I sort of assume is the case) the mixture is somewhat sweet, lightly bitter, fruity and has a faint oxidative character (from the vinegar). For its insertion in the ravioli it was minced and then mixed with ricotta. To make it work I felt it needed fairly agressivly savory sauce to balance the fruitiness of the filling. We actually made this two times in a row, this is the second version of the sauce:
Take a small handful of dried porcinis and put them in a cup of hot water for at least 20-30 min. Mince three or so shallots and cube 3 slices of salami toscano (I had wanted to use pancetta or guanciale at first, but we hadn't been to the market again since clearing out the fridge for our impromptu dinner, so the salami got used. Then it got used again because it worked well). When the porcinis are getting soft start the shallots sauteing. Add the salami after a min. or two, then mince the porcini and add them, along with some of the liquid they have been soaking in. Keep on adding a bit of the porcini broth every couple of minuets to form a lightly thick brown sauce. While all this has been going on cook the ravioli, erring a little on the underdone side. Once drained, add them to the sauce with a bit more porcini broth and cook for another min. or two before serving.
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