Dark chocolate ravioli parcels oozing with white chocolate mascarpone and raspberries, drizzled with champagne raspberry coulis and served with vanilla ice-cream!Totally indulgent but perfect for entertaining!

Okay, this has been a long time coming! A member for about 3 years and finally I have worked up the courage to make my first instructable… no need to rush these things.

This idea has been floating around in my head for about 2 years and I have only been motivated to try and create the recipe because of the chocolate competition. So here it is!

Please forgive me if I over instruct you... but I thought it better to give you as many details as possible to avoid confusion.
Finally, and most importantly... enjoy!

Step 1: Ingredients:

PASTA:
• 80 grams (3 oz) bittersweet chocolate roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp thickened cream
• 1 ½ cups of fine (type OO) flour (substitute with all purpose flour if needed)
• ¼ cup Dutch cocoa powder (or good quality baking cocoa)
• ¼ cup icing/confectioners sugar
• 1 pinch finely ground black pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 eggs

WHITE CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE
• 120 grams (4 oz) white chocolate melts
• 1/3 cup thick cream
• 100 grams mascarpone
• 1tsp vanilla extract.

RASPBERRY CHAMPAGNE COULIS
• 1 cup Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/3 cup superfine / Castor sugar
• 2 TBsp Champagne
• 1 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar

EXTRAS
• 1 egg lightly whisked for sealing ravioli closed
• ½ - ¾ cup raspberries extra needed for stuffing the ravioli
• 100 grams milk chocolate melts extra for garnish
• icing sugar to dust before serving
• Vanilla ice-cream to serve
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Other things you might need:
• Bench top mixer with dough hook
• Pasta roller
• Cookie cutter or pasta wheel

Step 2: Mascarpone Filling:

Don’t be scared, this is all going to be VERY simple!

• Set a mixing bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Be careful not to allow the water to touch the bottom of the mixing bowl. Add the white chocolate melts and half of the thick cream. Stir continuously until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

• Meanwhile, use a fork to whisk together the mascarpone, vanilla and remaining cream.

• When your chocolate mixture has cooled for about 2-3 minutes gently whisk it into the mascarpone and cream mixture and ensure that it is well combined. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator to chill. We’ll come back for this later.

Step 3: Raspberry Champagne Coulis:

• Set a small saucepan on the stove and add raspberries, sugar, champagne and vinegar. Simmer over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and the raspberries become soft and pulpy. Set aside to cool.

• You now have a problem… One open and only slightly used bottle of champagne. Oh the worries!!! You must decide at this point whether to keep the remaining champagne to share with your guests, or… well I won’t tell anyone if you manage to make it disappear somehow. A wink is as good as a nod ;0).

Step 4: Chocolate Pasta:

Please excuse me on this one… Although I would like to say I made it completely by hand, I didn’t. Feel free to get your hands into it though!

• Place the bittersweet chocolate and cream into a mixing bowl over gently simmering water and melt as you did with the white chocolate in step 1.

• Bring out the bench top mix master with a dough hook.

• In a large bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar, pepper and salt and set it under the mixer with the dough hook running.

• Add eggs, one at a time with mixer set at low speed.

• As the dough begins to come together add your melted chocolate and cream mixture and continue mixing until a firm but pliable dough is formed.

• Now pull your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and get stuck into it! Give it a good kneading until it is smooth and soft. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

Step 5: Chocolate Decorations:

• Melt the extra 100 grams of milk chocolate melts in a double bowl over simmering water.

• Place the melted chocolate into a medium sized Ziploc bag and snip a small piece off one corner.

• Using your decorative imagination, start to pipe some swirly or squiggly decorations onto a piece of non-stick baking paper. To make these curled shards of chocolate, I wrapped a rolling pin in grease-proof paper and secured it with a little piece of tape. Drizzle the chocolate back and forward over the top. Put aside until set and then gently slide them sideways off the paper.

Be sure to make spares in case of breakages when you’re serving. Chill until set and keep cool until ready to serve.

Step 6: Putting It All Together:

Stay with me here. It’s worth the effort!

• Once your pasta has rested, cut it into 4 portions and run it through the pasta press folding and repeating the process 2 or 3 times before gradually reducing the setting from 1 to 4. This should give you a nice thin sheet of chocolate lasagna.

• Lay down 2 sheets of the pasta side by side on a lightly floured surface and begin to lay out the stuffing allowing enough space in between each one to use your cookie cutter and make individual ravioli. I use the cookie cutter to lightly mark out the pattern in the dough first.

• Place a small teaspoon of the mascarpone mixture onto each ravioli and press a raspberry gently into the centre. Don’t over stuff them. If they burst during the first stage of cooking you will be unable to complete the second stage of cooking. It is also a good idea to make spares just in case this happens. I allowed 3-4 per person depending on how large you make them. Set aside any remaining white chocolate mascarpone to use when serving.

• Using a pastry brush, spread a very small amount of egg wash around each mound of stuffing – this will help the pasta to seal shut during the first cooking stage and prevent leaking during the second cooking.

• Take the remaining two sheets of lasagna and lay them over the top of the first two sheets enclosing the filling. Press down gently all around the filling and try to expel any air from the ravioli.

• Now take your cookie cutter or a pasta cutter and cut out your ravioli portions.

Step 7: Cooking:

At this point it is important to keep things moving so that your stuffing doesn’t begin to soften too much.

• Prepare a large bowl of chilled water ready to plunge your freshly cooked pasta straight into.

• Bring a medium pot of water to the boil. Using a slotted spoon lower the parcels into the water one at a time for approximately 30 seconds. Do not put them in and let them float around, just keep the parcel on the spoon and shake it gently from side to side to prevent it sticking. We are only going to cook the pasta very briefly as this helps to set the egg wash and seal the parcels shut for the second cooking. Remove from the boiling water and plunge into the cold water briefly to prevent further cooking. Set aside on a lightly oiled tray. Continue with all remaining ravioli parcels.
You can prepare ahead up to this point if you want but you must put the par-cooked ravioli in the fridge to keep cool until you’re ready to cook.

• Meanwhile, heat approx 2-3 cups of vegetable oil to 180 degrees Celsius.

• Fry ravioli parcels one serving at a time. Keep turning them gently to ensure even cooking until light and crispy – approximately 1-2 minutes. Drain on paper towel and cook remaining parcels.

NOTE: Don't fry any parcels that are leaking from the first stage of cooking. It will totally mess up your oil. Move quickly but don’t worry about keeping them warm as the filling is already runny by this time.

Step 8: Serving:

Spread a generous teaspoon of the left over white chocolate mascarpone onto the serving plate and lay the ravioli across it. This helps to prevent them slipping around the plate and adds more punch to the flavour.

Place a scoop of vanilla ice-cream beside the parcels and drizzle some of the raspberry coulis around the plate.

Stand your chocolate decoration against the ice-cream and gently dust the whole plate with icing sugar.

Serve immediately and enjoy!!!