Tomato Tomatoe

spoja lorda

Spoja Lorda are a mini ravioli filled with ricotta cheese and served in hot brodo (broth). They’re from the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy and they’re perfect on a cold winter day. These ravioli are prepared with simple ingredients and the name spoja lorda translates into “dirty dough”. It was a dish created by using the leftover filling from cappelletti.

When I first saw this pasta I instantly knew that I needed to try making them. I just knew that they would be an incredible delight and they were! The silky pasta filled ravioli in the hot chicken broth is incredibly warming and delicious. They honestly tasted like a warm hug! They do take a bit of time to make as you need to make the pasta dough, prepare the filling and make homemade chicken stock. I would suggest making the homemade chicken broth in advance and keeping it in the freezer so then it’s ready to use. Making everything in one go is possible but it will take many hours. I watched a few videos of Italian Nonna’s making this traditional Emilia-Romagna dish and they made it look so easy because they have years of practice under their belts. I would highly recommend giving this recipe a try. It uses simple ingredients and is overall a beautiful traditional Italian dish.

For the pasta dough I always use Lidia Bastianich’s recipe from her cookbook, Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine (which is a fantastic cookbook by the way). I use the light egg pasta dough recipe and it turns out perfect every time! I also recommend making your own homemade chicken broth. The store bought stuff is just not the same. I have a recipe for my chicken stock that is very easy to make and trust me, you will notice a difference in taste compared to store bought!

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spoja lorda

Ingredients

Pasta Dough (from Lidia Bastianich)

• 2 cups all purpose flour + more for dusting
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp water

Pasta Filling

• 2 cups ricotta
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
• fine sea salt to taste

Chicken Broth

• 1 1/2-2 litres of homemade chicken stock

Directions

1. To make the pasta dough, add the flour and eggs to a medium sized bowl. Beat the eggs with a fork until the flour begins to incorporate. Pour in the olive oil and water and mix until the dough starts to come together. Lightly flour your hands and dump the dough onto a clean work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and shiny on the outside. If your dough seems too sticky or hard after it has been kneaded for a minute or two, adjust the consistency with very small amounts of flour or water. The dough should bounce back if you put your finger in it. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for ½ hour.
2. To make the filling, add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine.
3. Roll out the dough using a pasta machine. Roll the dough out until it is thin. You should be able to see your hand through the dough. Place the rolled out dough on a clean work surface and cut the dough in half into even pieces (this will be the top and bottom of the raviolis). Carefully spread on the cheese filling using a straight spatula or you can press the cheese down with your hands to smooth it out. Spread the filling to the edges of the dough. Carefully place the top of the dough onto the cheese layer. Using a fork, gently poke holes throughout the dough. With a fluted cutting wheel, first trim the edges trimming off as little as possible. Next, cut the filled pasta into little 1 1/2-2 cm (3/4-inch) squares. Place the raviolis onto a baking sheet.
4. Fill a large pot with the chicken broth. Cover with a lid and bring the broth to a boil. Once the broth has boiled, remove the lid and add the ravioli to the hot broth. These should take about two minutes to cook. If you are cooking them from frozen they will take about five minutes to cook.
5. Serve the spoja lorda in individual bowls and top with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Notes

1. If you can find fresh ricotta from an Italian grocery store I would recommend buying that. It tastes a lot better than the store bought brands.
2. You can make the raviolis in advance and store in the freezer. To ensure that they don’t stick together, you will need to freeze them on a baking sheet. Once they are frozen, you can remove them from the baking sheet and add them to a resealable bag.