This heart shaped ravioli is perfect for Valentine's day! Made with a spinach and ricotta filling and served with a homemade roasted tomato sauce, they're cute as well as tasty! This made from scratch ravioli and sauce can be made ahead of time with a few simple ingredients. Follow the step by step instructions to make homemade ravioli all year long! Can be served as an appetizer or main. Vegetarian.
This recipe was first published in December 2015 and has been updated with new pictures and instructions
Are you planning anything for Valentine's Day? We tend to keep it low key, the restaurants are packed and it's way too crowded, we'd rather enjoy some delicious food, a little wine and snuggle up on the sofa.
Nothing quite says 'I love you' like homemade pasta, so put a little effort in and serve this delicious made from scratch meal. It's not super tricky at all but it's for sure made with love! Be sure to follow it up with my Valentine's Day Chocolate Bark.
How to Make Heart Shaped Ravioli From Scratch - Step by Step
How to make pasta dough from scratch
I used a straight forward pasta dough recipe for this, so you can use this recipe if you want to make homemade spaghetti or lasagna as well.
- Mix the flour and salt together and place it on a work work surface.
- Make a well in the flour and break the eggs in the middle.
- Use a fork to start mixing the flour into the egg, working from the outside in. Keep mixing slowly and gradually until the egg and flour is fully combined.
- Once well combined, knead the dough with your hands, it will be slightly sticky. Once really well combined form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
How to make the roasted tomato and garlic sauce and spinach and ricotta filling
The pasta dough needs to sit in the fridge for an hour, so in this time you can prep your sauce and filling.
- Place the tomatoes, pepper and garlic into a roasting tin with a little oil and salt and place in a pre heated oven.
- Once roasted transfer everything to a blender with seasonings and blend until smooth.
- Transfer to a small saucepan along with some butter, and bring to the boil and simmer until thickened. Set to one side.
- In a large pot melt butter with water and wilt the spinach before stirring in the other filling ingredients. Set to one side.
How to roll out and cut the pasta dough
If you have a pasta maker, by all means use that to roll out the dough into strips.
- Split the pasta dough in half and roll it out on a surface until it is as thin as you can get it.
- Use a heart shaped cutter to cut out the shapes. If you are making square ravioli, you can just cut it into squares with a knife or ravioli cutter.
- Roll the scraps of dough into a ball to cut out more shapes.
How to fill and seal heart shaped ravioli
- Place 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of the filling into the center of one of your hearts (depending on the size of cutter you use).
- Brush the edges well with water,
- Place another heart on top of the filling and use your fingers to seal the two pieces of dough, stretching the top bit slightly if you need to.
- Use a fork to crimp the edges so that the filling is secure.
- Place the finished ravioli on a plate with flour so that it doesn't stick.
How to cook the ravioli and assemble the dish
All of these steps can be done ahead of time and then it's really quick and easy to cook and plate up!
- Heat through your tomato sauce on a medium heat.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and carefully add the ravioli to the pot.
- Cook for 3 to 5 minutes (depending on the thickness of your pasta) until soft and the ravioli has floated to the top of the pot.
- Remove the heart shaped ravioli with a slotted spoon and serve with the hot sauce, grated parmesan and fresh parsley.
Recipe Variations
- This homemade ravioli recipe is pretty bang on as it is, but if you like you can mix up your filling for a tomato based one and serve with a creamy sauce or you can try a meat filling if you prefer.
- You can of course use a store bought sauce to serve alongside the heart shaped ravioli, but if you've made pasta from scratch it deserves an awesome sauce!
- I made large hearts that can be served as an appetizer or main, if you like (and have the patience!) you can make lots of smaller hearts.
- Add a little heat to your pasta by adding a chopped red chili into the sauce or the ravioli filling.
What do you serve with heart shaped ravioli?
I made these hearts pretty big, so this ravioli can be served as an eye catching appetizer or as a main course. The tomato sauce is rich, so if served as an appetizer, the ravioli, a little sauce and you are on to a winner! To serve it up as a main, a side salad is always a good idea or sautéed veggies. Garlic bread is never not appreciated.
What's the best flour to make homemade ravioli with?
The best pasta is made with 00 flour, it's readily available in store and it will yield the silkiest pasta with a rough texture which will help the sauce cling to it. Don't despair though, you can make perfectly good pasta with good old all purpose flour that you have in your cupboard. I've made pasta from scratch with both, and unless you are entertaining an Italian culinary master, no one will know the difference!
Can you make homemade ravioli without a pasta maker?
If you have a pasta maker, use it for sure. A pasta maker helps to get the dough super thin and it is tricky to do it by hand. If you are doing it by hand be sure to use a good amount of flour so that they pasta doesn't stick and rip. Roll it out as thin as you can or you could end up with the middle of the pasta undercooked and chewy. Not the romantic vibe we are going for!
Can you make heart shaped ravioli ahead of time?
Yes you can! There's no need to be in a rush when making homemade ravioli, you can make it hours and even days ahead of time so you can serve it fuss free. In fact, when I make pasta at home I make a double batch to enjoy at a later date.
The sauce and the filling can be made 2 to 3 days ahead of time and kept covered in the fridge. The filling can be used straight from the fridge and you just need a couple of minutes to heat up the sauce.
The heart shaped ravioli can either be made earlier on in the day and then kept covered on the floury plate in the fridge to cook in the evening. The homemade pasta also freezes really well. Make up the ravioli and freeze it on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag or freezer safe container. The pasta can be cooked right from frozen, it will just need a couple of extra minutes cooking time.
Easy homemade ravioli from scratch
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that if you've never made pasta from scratch before it's totally hassle free, but it is much easier than you think and just requires a little patience. Set aside a couple of hours and enjoy the process...and impress your love 😉
Top Tips To Make Heart Shaped Ravioli From Scratch
- When you make the pasta dough it will be slightly tacky to the touch, don't be tempted to add extra flour.
- Make sure you allow at least an hour for the pasta dough to sit in the fridge before you roll it out, this will allow it to be more pliable so you can roll it out really thin.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water and don't overcrowd the pot. The pasta needs room to cook, so cook it in two batches if you need to.
- Enjoy the process! Making pasta from scratch is a pure joy 🙂
Equipment needed to make heart shaped ravioli
Be sure to check out these other pasta recipes!
More vegetarian main meals:
- Vegetarian Mushroom Pot Pie
- Beetroot Tart with Gorgonzola and Red Onions
- Winter Brown Rice Salad with Feta and Cranberries
I love hearing from you!! If you have tried this yummy heart shaped ravioli, be sure to scroll down, give it a star rating and let me know what you thought!
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Heart Shaped Ravioli (Homemade Ricotta & Spinach Ravioli)
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 red pepper
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- pinch black pepper
- ¼ stick salted butter
For the ricotta and spinach filling
- ¼ stick butter
- 5 tablespoons water
- 3.5 ounces fresh baby leaf spinach (100g)
- 3.5 ounces ricotta (100g)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- juice from half a lemon
Instructions
To make the pasta dough
- Mix the flour and salt together and place it on a work surface. Make a well in the flour and break the eggs in the middle.
- Use a fork to start mixing the flour into the egg, working from the outside in. Keep mixing slowly and gradually until the egg and flour is fully combined.
- Once well combined, knead the dough with your hands for a few minutes so it comes together, it will be slightly sticky. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
To make the sauce
- Pre heat the oven to 430ºf / 220ºc.
- Cut the tomatoes in half and add them, the red pepper and garlic (no need to peel the garlic) into a roasting tin with the oil and salt and roast for 40 minutes until softened.
- Carefully remove the stem and seeds from the red pepper and add to a blender with the tomatoes. Peel the roasted garlic and add that in along with the oregano and black pepper. Blend until smooth.
- Transfer to a small saucepan along with the butter, and bring to the boil and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Set to one side.
To make the filling
- In a large pot melt butter with water and wilt the spinach before stirring in the other filling ingredients. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
To make the ravioli
- Split the pasta dough in half and roll it out on a surface until it is as thin as you can get it. You can also use a pasta maker if you have one.
- Use a heart shaped cutter to cut out the shapes. If you are making square ravioli, you can just cut it into squares with a knife or ravioli cutter.
- Roll the scraps of dough into a ball to cut out more shapes and repeat with the other half of the dough until you have all your shapes cut out.
- Place 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of the filling into the center of one of your hearts (depending on the size of cutter you use) and brush the edges well with water.
- Place another heart on top of the filling and use your fingers to seal the two pieces of dough, stretching the top bit slightly if you need to.
- Use a fork to crimp the edges so that the filling is secure. Place the finished ravioli on a plate with flour so that it doesn't stick. Repeat with the other hearts.
To cook and assemble
- When ready to serve, heat through your tomato sauce on a medium heat.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and carefully add the ravioli to the pot. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes (depending on the thickness of your pasta) until soft and the ravioli has floated to the top of the pot.
- Remove the ravioli on by one with a slotted spoon to drain them, and serve with the hot sauce, grated parmesan and fresh parsley.
Notes
- When you make the pasta dough it will be slightly tacky to the touch, don't be tempted to add extra flour.
- Make sure you allow at least an hour for the pasta dough to sit in the fridge before you roll it out, this will allow it to be more pliable so you can roll it out really thin.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water and don't overcrowd the pot. The pasta needs room to cook, so cook it in two batches if you need to.
- Enjoy the process! Making pasta from scratch is a pure joy 🙂
- Make ahead - the filled ravioli can be made earlier in the day and covered in the fridge or you can freeze it on a baking sheet than transfer to a container. The pasta can be cooked from frozen, just add a couple of minutes on to the cooking time. The sauce and filling can be made 2 to 3 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge.
- Nutritional values are based on one of eight ravioli hearts with sauce and are an estimate only.
Nutrition
Michael says
Did you leave out a step? What are the filling ingredients?
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Michael, all of the ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Ingredients are under 'For the ricotta and spinach filling' and instructions under 'To make the filling'. Let me know if any other questions!
Shane says
Not enough liquid in the pasta dough. Had to add water during mixing.
Yumna says
Omg this is the cutest thing ever! What a lucky valentine you have 🙂
Gemma says
How cute are these? They look so cute, and what a lovely twist for valentine's day! Thanks so much for sharing with us xo