One of my mantras for Supper Clubs is to keep it simple. That isn’t always easy for me. I have been accused of saying one thing, and doing another (Guilty!) Sometimes it takes a little work to get a really exceptional dish. Making ravioli is more than a bit of a production. As the great American philosopher Ron Iles* would say: “Sometimes, you have to suffer if you want to sing the blues”.
The inspiration for this dish comes from the Patio Restaurant in Westhampton. The Patio has been there for years, but last summer they got a new chef. His pasta dishes are the best I have had outside of Tuscany. Last summer we had a great young waitress and before we ordered, I asked her what her favorite dish was. She started out by saying: “You are going to have to trust me on this as it might not sound great, but boy is it good”. Corn and ravioli together might be a bit of a disconnect, but this is a phenomenal dish. The chef uses a little cream and a truffle oil to get a phenomenal sauce. The combination of flavors is amazing.
Making ravioli is more than a bit of a production. Having a decent pasta maker and a ravioli form make it a little easier, but you are going to have to commit a couple hours to the process. With that said, there is something about making your own pasta/ravioli. The good news is that if you are making ravioli, you might as well make a quantity to freeze. My plan is to build a supper club menu around this dish where I will make the pasta and sauce and share it with the other hosts. While making ravioli is fun for me, it is probably above the salary grade of your average supper club cook. I may be a jerk, but sometimes there is a benefit to having a friend that can cook.
Here is the recipe.
The fact that the recipe and instructions are over 700 words is a testimony to the complexity of this dish. It is not easy, but trust me, you will delight your guests.
*For those of you who Googled the famous philosopher Ron Iles and found nothing, I will have to explain. Ron was my college roommate and is famous in my family. Ron and I went to school in upstate New York long before we moved to Memphis. The line “You have to suffer if you want to sing the blues” has special meaning as we now live in Memphis, the home of the blues. We were planning a menu at Ron and Amy’s apartment in New York City with a menu built around corn ravioli. It may not be simple, but it was good and the evening was all sorts of fun.
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