• Recipe by Neill Anthony 

    Seafood ravioli with fennel butter and mussel salsa

    Serves: 6
    Cooking Time: 1 hr 45 mins

    Ingredients

    • Pasta

    • 2 large eggs
    • 3 large egg yolks
    • 15ml (1 tbsp) olive/avocado oil
    • 280g cake flour
    • pinch of salt
    • Filling

    • 500g tiger prawns, peeled and cleaned
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • juice of ½ a lemon
    • Fennel butter

    • 1 small fennel bulb
    • olive/avocado oil, for frying
    • 50g butter, cold and cubed
    • Mussel salsa

    • 4 ripe tomatoes
    • 10 fresh basil leaves
    • 500g mussels in the shell
    • 15ml (1 tbsp) olive/avocado oil
    • 250g baby spinach
    • fresh asparagus tips, blanched, to garnish

    Instructions

    1

    For the pasta, combine the eggs and the yolks in a bowl, pour in the oil andwhisk until smooth.

    2

     Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and slowly pour in the egg mixture, blending until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

    3

    Knead the dough until it comes together into a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until needed.

    4

    For the filling, mince half the prawns finely and dice the other half. Combine the prawns in a chilled bowl. Season and drizzle with the lemon juice. Roll into small balls and refrigerate until needed.

    5

    For the fennel butter, finely slice the fennel bulb. Heat a little oil in a pot and fry the fennel until it just starts to colour. Add a little water and continue cooking until the fennel is soft and the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.

    6

    Using a food processor or a hand-held blender, purée the cooked fennel with the butter. Set aside until needed.

    7

     For the mussel salsa, peel, seed and finely dice the tomatoes and finely slice the basil.

    8

     Steam the mussels in a large pot and discard any that do not open after 5 minutes. Reserve the cooking juices. Shell the mussels and place in a bowl with the basil and tomatoes. Toss with the oil and a little of the cooking liquid from the mussels.

    9

    Roll out the chilled pasta and put it through a pasta machine. Cut the pasta sheets into large discs with a cookie cutter, or use a knife around the bottom of a cup.

    10

    Place a ball of prawn filling on half the pasta discs. Top with another disc of pasta and press the edges with your fingers to seal the ravioli parcel.

    11

    Cook the ravioli in batches in salted boiling water until they float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain and keep warm.

    12

    Lightly sauté the spinach in a hot pan.

    13

    To serve, place a ravioli parcel on a pile of spinach. Top with the warmed fennel butter, arrange the mussel salsa around the plate and garnish with the asparagus.

    Notes

    To drink: Eagles’ Nest Viognier, with hints of spice and apricot to complement the delicate seafood and herbaceous flavours.