I was ridiculously excited to open my birthday present from Ian; he’s a great gift-giver, very thoughtful, and exceeds expectations. Neither of us could wait for my actual birthday to open it! When I opened the box to reveal a green Marcato Atlas 150 pasta machine, I was thrilled! I made my first batch of pasta the very next day, and because I still had quail eggs in my fridge, I jumped into the deep-end head first.

I wanted to make a mushroom cream sauce for this, and I still think sauteed mushrooms would be a good complement, but I also felt that the lemon butter added some much-needed acidity to keep this from being a heavy dish.

Quail Egg Ravioli in Parsley-Lemon Butter

Pasta:

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c semolina flour

3 eggs

water to reach desired consistency

Filling:

1 c ricotta cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp oregano

butter, in thin slivers

18 quail eggs

Sauce:

5 tbsp butter

juice from 1 lemon

1 tsp parsley

Combine flour, semolina and eggs, adding water until a consistent dough is formed. Pass through a pasta press until very thin. Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl and place daubs of filling with spaces in between to seal the pasta around them. Make a well in the filling (I used my thumb) for the quail egg yolk. Crack a quail egg for each ravioli, separating and reserving the whites and placing the yolk in the well of the ricotta filling. Place a sliver of butter on each yolk, to keep it separate from the pasta as you cook it, and then lay another sheet of pasta over the filling, using egg white to seal and making sure to remove as much air as possible. Cook in salted boiling water until the ravioli floats. In a microwave-safe measuring cup, place lemon juice, butter and parsley. Microwave until butter is completely melted. Serve ravioli with a drizzle of lemon butter.