Giovanni Milana is a chef who works in a family restaurant in Olevano Romano, one of the best traditional restaurants in Italy. This recipe is a very interesting reinterpretation of ravioli because the combination of chickpeas and cod is a typical Roman dish that’s now somewhat out of date.
As usual, I modified it to make it simpler and more homely.

Cod and chickpea ravioli

  • Preparation time: 90 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficult recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For the pasta:
  • 7 oz (200 grams) of all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • For the stuffing:
  • 7 oz (200 grams) of desalted cod
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 potato of about 14 oz (400 grams)
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Parsley to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • For the dressing:
  • 14 oz (400 grams) of boiled chickpeas
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 stick of celery
  • 1 onion
  • 2 anchovies
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Salt, fresh chili, and rosemary to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. To make the pasta, put the flour on the pastry board, create a hole in the center, and pour in the eggs.
    Knead until the mixture is very smooth.  Cover with cellophane and let it rest at room temperature for an hour.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling:
  4. Wash and chop the parsley.
  5. Boil the potato for about forty minutes.
  6. Put the desalted cod in another pot with the milk, bay leaf, and water.  Cook for about twenty minutes at medium heat.  Drain, bone if necessary, and remove the skin.
  7. Add the boiled and mashed potato. With a blender, mix the potato with the cod and two tablespoons of oil, a pinch of salt, and parsley.
  8. Make the sauce:
  9. In a large pan, sauté with oil the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, anchovies, rosemary, and a piece of fresh chili.
  10. Add the boiled chickpeas and a ladle of water. Leave to cook for twenty minutes.  Eliminate the rosemary and season with salt.
  11. Pour half the chickpeas into the mixer and blend with two tablespoons of oil until creamy.
  12. With the dough sheeter, roll out the dough until it is thin. Cut the dough into squares.
  13. Arrange piles of filling into the squares. Using a brush, lightly moisten the edges of the dough with water and then seal all sides until the filling is completely enclosed.
  14. Boil the water for the pasta in a saucepan. Salt the cooking water. Cook the ravioli for a few minutes.
    Drain and put them in the pan with the sauce.
  15. Make sure the sauce coats all ravioli evenly, then serve.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Use floury potatoes.
  • The sauté must always be stewed covered for the first five minutes, then uncovered for the remaining ten minutes over a very low heat. This prevents it from darkening too much and becoming indigestible.
  • The chickpea puree can be passed through a sieve to make it velvety.