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If you want to learn how to make pasta, this spinach and ricotta triangoli with lemon butter and sage is a great place to start. Imagine little triangles of pasta, with a delicious spinach, basil and ricotta filling, tossed through a zesty lemon butter, finished with crispy sage leaves.
I know lots of people think that homemade pasta is difficult and/or time consuming. I promise you, it really isn’t. Or at least, it doesn’t have to be. Especially if you make something like this spinach and ricotta triangoli. In fact, the process can actually become quite mindful and relaxing once you get into the rhythm of it.
Before we get into how to make your own homemade spinach and ricotta triangoli, let me explain what it is. You are probably familiar with ravioli which is widely available in supermarkets. Triangoli is similar, but shaped into beautiful triangles instead of squares. Although it is popular in Italy, you don’t really find it much in the UK – unless you make your own!
Back to how to make homemade spinach and ricotta triangoli. First, you make a super simple filling by combining blanched spinach and basil with creamy ricotta, nutmeg and Parmesan. Then you roll your pasta dough into thin sheets, cut into 7cm square pieces and place onto a semolina-dusted baking tray. After that, you just pipe a small amount of your filling into each one, then fold into delicate triangles and carefully crimp the edges. All that’s left is to boil them in salted water and add to your favourite pasta sauce or butter!
Here, I have included a recipe for how to make a zesty lemon butter sauce and crispy sage leaves garnish. However, you can serve with whatever you fancy. Have a look through my pasta recipes and enjoy trying out different combinations.
Table of Contents
- Why you will love this recipe:
- Ingredients:
- Equipment Needed
- What is triangoli?
- Here’s how to make Homemade Triangoli with Spinach & Ricotta Filling:
- Cooking Tips:
- Lemon Butter & Sage: Serving Suggestion
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Storage & Make Ahead Instructions
- Other recipes you might enjoy:
- Made this recipe and loved it?
- How to Make Homemade Triangoli Pasta Recipe
Why you will love this recipe:
- It is simple to make and ideal for building your confidence in making homemade pasta.
- It is super comforting and full of flavour. Imagine triangoli pasta with creamy, cheesy ricotta, spinach and herby basil filling, served with a zesty lemon and rich butter sauce. All topped off with umami-rich Parmesan and crispy sage leaves.
- It is so versatile. You can ring the changes and serve your homemade spinach and ricotta triangoli with all sorts of different sauces and butters. You can also experiment with different fillings.
- You can prep ahead and batch make the homemade spinach and ricotta triangoli, then keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Ingredients:
Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down!
Semolina flour – this helps stop the pasta dough from sticking.
Fresh pasta dough – making your own pasta dough is so much easier than you think.
00 flour – this is a finely ground high-protein flour which is ideal for making pasta and pizza.
Spinach – this has a mild flavour that is perfect for a pasta filling.
Fresh basil – this has a fresh, sweet, and slightly peppery flavour which is delicious combined with spinach.
Ricotta – a delicious creamy Italian cheese. Opt for full-fat ricotta for best results.
Parmesan – freshly grated Parmesan adds a delicious umami flavour to spinach and ricotta triangoli filling. It is also the perfect garnish.
Equipment Needed
You obviously will also need a sharp knife, a chopping board and a baking tray. You will also need the following:
Pasta Machine – see my pasta dough recipe for full tips on this. You could make pasta with just a rolling pin but I will concede it is a lot of effort and more time-consuming. The best tool to have is a pasta machine. It’s manual and has a metal crank that allows you to effortlessly roll pasta out until it’s very thin and ready to be shaped.
Ravioli Stamp – this is optional as you could also just use a sharp knife to cut out the squares that are then folded into the triangoli. I love using a ravioli stamp as it has fluted edges which look pretty.
What is triangoli?
Triangoli are one of the easiest filled pasta shapes you can make – perfect if you are just starting to learn how to make homemade pasta. It is very similar to ravioli, but shaped like a triangle instead of a square. Not only does this make them look even more elegant, it also means you only have to worry about sealing two edges, instead of four.
Here’s how to make Homemade Triangoli with Spinach & Ricotta Filling:
Here’s a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe at the bottom of the page for detailed instructions.
ONE: Add the ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg to a bowl along with the finely chopped blanched spinach and basil.
TWO: Mix well then season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
THREE: Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper and dust with semolina. Set aside. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out your pasta into four equal-sized long sheets.
FOUR: Place onto your work surface and, using a dough cutter, knife, or ravioli stamp, cut out roughly 7 cm squares. Place the squares onto your prepared trays as you go.
FIVE: Pipe about a teaspoon of the spinach and ricotta filling onto each square, aiming for just below where you will fold the pasta in half to make triangles.
SIX: To shape the triangoli: working one square at a time, lift one corner over the top of the filling to meet the opposite corner, then seal along the edges with your fingers, pressing out any air so the filling is tightly contained. If your dough feels dry at all, you can wet a fingertip and brush the edge to help seal. Set back onto the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining squares of pasta.
Cooking Tips:
Ice water: It’s important to place the basil and spinach straight into cold water a) to stop the cooking and b) to preserve the vibrant green colour. You also need to ensure it is cold before being mixed with the ricotta for the filling.
Sealing: make sure you handle the triangoli very carefully when sealing. The pasta should be thin so it is prone to breaking and tearing when you handle it. Also make sure you squeeze out as much air as possible to avoid air pockets.
Al dente: cook the pasta until it is ‘al dente’ (meaning ‘to the bite’). It should still be firm when you bite into a piece, but not too chewy. It will cook much quicker than dried pasta (it literally takes a few minutes). Also remember it will be cooked for a minute or so as it is tossed through the lemon butter.
Lemon Butter & Sage: Serving Suggestion
Butter – this is the key ingredient in the luxuriously rich lemon butter sauce. Salted or unsalted work.
Sage leaves – these have an earthy, slightly peppery flavour. Frying them not only makes them crispy, it also makes the flavours less intense so they complement the spinach and ricotta triangoli and zesty lemon butter perfectly.
Lemon – this adds a refreshing citrus flavour to the butter which really lifts the dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s pronounced tree-AHN-goh-lee.
You can make it in stages. The filling can be made in advance, left to cool completely and be kept covered and chilled overnight. Once shaped and filled, it is best cooked within 24 hours (keep in a sealed container in the fridge if shaping more than 1 hour before cooking). However, it freezes really well for up to 3 months (see below for guidance). Plus, you can add straight to boiling water – no need to defrost.
Using the pasta cooking water in pasta sauces is one of my favourite chef’s tricks. As the pasta cooks in the boiling water, it releases starch. This creates a starchy pasta water. When you add this to your pasta sauces, it binds and thickens them. If you have a buttery or oily sauce, it will help them become creamy and non-greasy. If you have a tomato sauce, it will help loosen it and make it super glossy. Put simply, if you want the most delicious, silky smooth pasta sauce, add a splash of pasta water.
There are so many different sauces you can serve with spinach and ricotta triangoli. It is wonderful with homemade basil pesto or a zesty lemon and pistachio pesto. I often serve it with my creamy roasted red bell pepper sauce, the sauce from my gnocchi alla norma or my creamy mushroom pasta too. Have a look through my pasta recipes and enjoy trying out different combinations. There are even more possibilities when you start adjusting the filling too!
Storage & Make Ahead Instructions
The shaped triangoli, uncooked, are best cooked on the same day (cover and chill if making more than 1 hour ahead and cook within 24 hours) or frozen. The finished dish is best served straight away but any leftovers can go in an air tight container in the fridge for 2 days.
This is one of those dishes that is best served straight away and doesn’t reheat particularly well. But if you do have any leftover, in the interest of avoiding food waste, 1-2 minutes in the microwave will heat them through well.
Lay on a baking tray and place in freezer for 20 minutes, then once firmed up, transfer to a sealed container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Cook straight from frozen.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
If you like the sound of this spinach and ricotta triangoli, you will love my one pan pasta with peas. Also don’t miss my chicken orzo with spinach and grated halloumi or creamy mushroom and spinach pasta.
Kitchen Basics Recipes
How To Make Pasta Dough
Easy Pasta Recipes
How to Make Homemade Garganelli Pasta
Recipes
Carbonara with Guanciale
Easy Pasta Recipes
Pasta with Cherry Tomato Sauce
Made this recipe and loved it?
I would love love LOVE if you could leave a review in the comments… I love hearing what you thought, any changes you made, the stories behind what made you try my recipes. Also, if you share a photo on Instagram, please tag me @desertislanddishes, it makes my day to see you making my creations!
How to Make Homemade Triangoli Pasta
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 80 g baby spinach
- 20 g fresh basil leaves
- 250 g full-fat ricotta
- 30 g Parmesan, freshly grated
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the triangoli pasta:
- Semolina flour, for dusting
- 1 x fresh pasta dough
- 00 flour, for dusting
For the lemon butter and crispy sage:
- 120 g unsalted butter, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Handful of sage leaves
- Juice of ½ lemon
To serve:
- Freshly grated Parmesan
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
To make the triangoli filled with spinach and ricotta:
- While the dough rests, make the filling: bring a large pan of water to the boil and prepare a bowl of iced water. Add the spinach and basil to the pan and blanch for about 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and place straight into the bowl of icy water (this stops it from cooking and will help keep the leaves a beautiful vibrant green colour). Leave to cool for a few minutes in the ice water.
- Once cool, squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can then place on a chopping board. Finely chop and tip into a large mixing bowl. Add the ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg. Mix well then season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Spoon into a piping bag or a sandwich bag that you can snip the corner off.
- Lightly dust a couple of large baking sheets and your work surface with semolina flour.
- Split your dough in four and roll out each ball of dough into long sheets, I tend to do to the second to last thinness level on my pasta machine.
- Place onto your work surface and, using a dough cutter, knife, or ravioli stamp, cut out roughly 7 cm squares. Place the squares onto your prepared trays as you go.
- Pipe about a teaspoon of the spinach and ricotta filling onto each square, aiming for just below where you will fold the pasta in half to make triangles.
- To shape the triangoli: working one square at a time, lift one corner over the top of the filling to meet the opposite corner, then seal along the edges with your fingers, pressing out any air so the filling is tightly contained. If your dough feels dry at all, you can wet a fingertip and brush the edge to help seal. Set back onto the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining squares of pasta.
- Once you have shaped all the pasta, bring a large pan of generously salted water to the boil.
To make the lemon butter & sage sauce:
- Meanwhile, make the crispy sage: add the oil to a shallow, wide-bottomed pan set over a medium heat. Once hot, add the sage leaves and cook for about 3 minutes – or until crispy. Remove from the pan and place onto a sheet of kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
- Next, make the lemon butter: add the butter to the same pan and place over a low heat. Allow to melt slowly.
- Add the triangoli to the pan of boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- As soon as the butter has melted, add small splashes of the pasta water, stirring vigorously to emulsify into a smooth, buttery sauce. Add a generous squeeze of lemon juice, then lift out the cooked triangoli using a slotted spoon and add to the butter. Toss gently to coat in the sauce.
- Spoon into bowls, garnish with crispy sage leaves and serve straight away with freshly grated Parmesan and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
