A Chef’s Guide to the Impressive Dish

Historic Darling Harbour venue Pumphouse Sydney recently reopened its doors after a slick facelift; welcoming locals back to enjoy its range of craft beers, new wine room and updated menu with gusto. I was lucky enough to be invited to check out the venue as it reopened and although the entire dining experience was exceptional, one menu item that stood out was the egg yolk raviolo.

So much so that I stopped the venue’s head chef Anthony Kirk in the corridor to ask how he and his team achieved such a perfectrunny egg in the centre of their raviolo pasta. He was kind enough to share his trade secrets with us, which I’m able to now pass on to you.

While it is a real treat to dine on the entire menu at Pumphouse, which they recommend you enjoy in a kind of family sharing style (the best way to eat, if you ask me), it’s also pretty fun to try your hand at an impressive dish at home.

So, here’s Kirk’s recipe for egg yolk raviolo. Be prepared: it’s a little involved and there are four segments to master (the dough, the ricotta, the entire raviolo and a gin butter sauce), but I have faith in you! Let’s check it out.

Egg yolk raviolo recipe

By: Anthony Kirk, Pumphouse Sydney

How to make the pasta dough

What you’ll need:

• 300g double 00 flour – sifted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 4 whole eggs
• 3 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into a food processor and blitz until dough comes together. If you do not have a food processor, mix the salt and flour together. Place flour on to bench and create a well in the middle. Place the eggs and olive oil in to the middle of the well and whish with a fork. Slowly incorporating the flour and egg together.
2. Once the dough has been formed, knead the dough by hand until it becomes smooth. Knead the dough in to a ball and wrap in cling film. Place dough in fridge and let it relax for 1hr. (if dough is too sticky, feel free to dust with flour, while kneading).
3. Take your dough out of the fridge and cut in to 4 equal pieces. While using one of the pieces of dough, wrap the other 3 in cling film, so they don’t dry out.
4. Using a pasta machine, set it to the widest setting first and prepare to roll out dough.
5. Feed the dough through the pasta machine rollers twice.
6. Fold the edges in to create a rectangle and dust with flour if dough is sticking. Feed the dough through again. Reduce the thickness to the next lowest setting each time you feed the dough through. Repeat this process, until you get an almost transparent consistency. (Dust with flour as you need, and don’t forget to always feed the dough through twice with each setting).

How to make the herbed ricotta

What you’ll need:

• 1kg ricotta
• 1 lemon, juice and zested
• ¼ bunch parsley
• ¼ bunch mint
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Finely chop parsley and mint
2. Zest and juice 1 lemon
3. Add to ricotta, mix well and season to taste.
4. Transfer to piping bag

How to make the egg yolk ravioli recipe

What you’ll need:

• Pasta dough recipe (above)
• Herbed ricotta recipe (above)
• Egg yolks
• Egg wash

Directions:

1. Once you have rolled out your pasta sheet, cut circles out using a dough cutter.
2. Brush half of the circles with egg wash and leave the other half as is.
3. Pipe the herbed ricotta on to the egg washed pasta disc in a circle form.
4. Carefully separate an egg and place the yolk in the middle of the ricotta.
5. Place the left over pasta disc on top and carefully seal with your fingers.

How to make the gin butter sauce

What you’ll need:

• 300ml Cuthill lost phoenix gin
• 1 Eschallot
• 1 Garlic clove
• 200g Butter
• 2 sprigs Lemon thyme
• ½ lemon juiced
• 2 sprigs Mint
• 2 sprigs Parsley
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Pinch Sugar
• Tasmanian black truffle

Directions:

1. Place a pot of salted water on the stove and bring to the boil
2. Drop your raviolis in to the pot of water and cook for 2-3 minutes
3. In a separate pan, add a dash of oil and Sweat eschallot, garlic and thyme.
4. Add gin and reduce by 1/3
5. Slowly incorporate butter until it thickens
6. Carefully take the raviolis out and place in to the pan
7. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice
8. Finish sauce with freshly picked mint and parsley
9. To plate, place raviolis on to your serving dish and pour the sauce over.
10. Grate parmesan and fresh black truffles on top
11. Finish with extra virgin olive oil

If you give this egg yolk raviolo recipe a try, let us know how you go in the comments below!