A Ricotta Pasta Filling Where Parsley Dominates

A typical recipe for ricotta-filled pasta will specify, perhaps, a tablespoon or two of finely chopped parsley per batch. I suppose it adds color and a bit of flavor (as distinct from ricotta-spinach fillings, which can be very spinachy). As it happens, though, Jackie and I are fond of the taste of parsley – even as the sole leaf in a little salad (as at the London restaurant St. John, where a parsley and shallot salad was, is and ever shall be served with roasted marrow bones)So I’ve recently been turning an otherwise typical ricotta filling into something quite different by using a seemingly unlikely quantity of parsley, which turns it a jolly green in color and gives it a profound herbal flavor that has met with wide approval among our dinner guests.So far, I’ve used this in two ways: to fill pasta parcels such as ravioli, agnolotti and so forth; and in remarkably elegant, light lasagne. Both of those dishes were devised to let the parsley filling dominate: other ingredients are kept minimal. The filling would also make delicious cannelloni (but make them skinny).Here is some ravioli and lasagne guidance.Ravioli. Keep them small: one bite apiece. Nine or ten of these tossed with butter and a small quantity of simple tomato sauce and butter make a stellar first course. No grated parmesan needed, though there’s no need to withhold it if someone demands it.Lasagne. For this quantity of filling, use a small baking pan (around 6 x 8 inches). Have ready a cup of simple tomato sauce (you may not use it all, but you’ll need some for serving) and around 4 oz mozzarella sliced very thin. Spread a couple of tablespoons of sauce in the buttered or olive-oiled pan. Place a sheet of blanched egg pasta onto your work surface, and use an offset cake-decorating spatula or a butter knife to spread ricotta-parsley mixture in a fine, even layer – as though you were filling a seven-layer cake. Lay it into the pan, splash a tiny bit of sauce over the mixture – think Jackson Pollack – and add five or six postage-stamp-size leaves of mozzarella. Repeat until the pan is full or you’ve run out of filling. Last time I did this, I managed eight layers. Bake at 350º F, covered, for about 30 minutes, then uncovered for another 10 minutes. As with any lasagne, let it cool for a few minutes before serving with extra tomato sauce.