Lanterne filled with a whipped ricotta and bacon filling. Finished in a thyme butter with lemon zest for a fresh zing. This filling is super savoury and delicious and will work in any filled shape.
Ricotta and bacon lanterne
Hi! I'm writing up the recipe for this delicious bacon and ricotta filled lanterne. This shape like all pasta has multiple names, it is slightly tricky but you will get the hang of it! Start out with my easy homemade pasta dough then make the filling while it rests. I serve the lanterne with a simple browned thyme butter, you can use sage or any other herb you like. Check out my guide to the best butter sauce for some more detail! The key to the bacon and ricotta filling is to use all the browned butter and fat left in the frypan from the bacon. It's sinfully good!
How to shape the lanterne
This shape is a little fiddly to make but after a couple you will get the hang of it. Always remember it doesn't need to be uniform or perfect! If you are new to filled shapes you could start with my easy triangoli.
- Cut out circles in the dough, I use cookie cutters to do this. Use whatever size you like, totally personal preference! Mine were about 9cm in diameter.
- Pipe about 1 tsp filling into the middle.
- Bring the middle of the bottom and top parts of the circle together and pinch firmly.
- Bring the sides up to middle and pinch together, pinching all the way along the four lines to seal.
- You don't want any gaps so take your time to really pinch those edges together firmly.
- Continue with the other circles. If you find they are drying out then cover them loosely with plastic wrap and you can also use a little water on the edges around the filling so it sticks.
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Tips for the best lanterne in thyme sauce
- Check out my easy homemade pasta dough recipe for all the tips and tricks to getting the perfect pasta dough for the lanterne.
- Read my guide to the best butter sauce for pasta for the best butter sauce! One trick I like to do to make it extra foamy is ramp up the heat right at the end for a few seconds so it foams up.
- If you can, plan ahead and make the lanterne the day before you want to eat them (or week before!) it will make the process so much easier and less stressful.
- If you are making ahead you can freeze them. Freeze open on a tray then when frozen (20 mins or so) transfer to a container or freezer bag.
- Heat your plates! You don't want to go to all that trouble to then have it go cold so I always heat my plates in the oven before serving.
Made this dish and loved it?
Please tag me in a picture on instagram so I can see! Also if you loved it please leave me a review down below, it helps so much! Please get in touch anytime if you have any pasta questions I am always happy to chat and trouble shoot any problems!
Recipe
Bacon and ricotta filled lanterne
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Ingredients
- 1 x batch easy homemade pasta dough
For the filling:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 5 - 6 rashers streaky bacon
- 250 g ricotta
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For the sauce
- 200 g butter cubed (I prefer unsalted so I can season it myself)
- A few sprigs of thyme plus extra to serve
- Zest of a lemon
Instructions
- Make the pasta dough according to my instructions in my easy homemade pasta dough.
- While the dough is resting make the filling. Fry the bacon in the butter until just crisp (but still some soft bits, if it is really crispy you run the risk of it piercing the pasta).
- Let it cool slightly then roughly chop and blend with the ricotta. I pour in every last bit of the browned butter and bacon fat into the filling, you won't regret it I promise! I use a mini processor so the ricotta whips slightly. Just use whatever you have, even mixing it in a bowl with a spoon is fine just make sure the bacon is finely chopped if you do that.
- Put into a piping bag and set aside in the fridge until ready to use. I suggest getting a reusable piping bag for ravioli fillings, it really is the cleanest and easiest way to get fillings on the pasta. You could use a snap lock bag with the corner cut off. You can obviously just spoon the fillings on to the pasta if you want!
- I like to work with smaller bits of pasta dough at a time. Cut the dough ball into quarters (or even 6 pieces) and work with one at a time, keeping the others tightly wrapped.
- Roll the sheets out with the instructions in my dough recipe, I went to the thinnest setting on my machine but do whatever thickness you like best. Thinnest or second to thinnest.
To shape:
- Definitely check out all the photos above!! Cut out circles in the dough, I use cookie cutters to do this. Use whatever size you like, totally personal preference! Mine were about 9cm in diameter.
- Pipe about 1 tsp filling into the middle.
- Bring the middle of the bottom and top parts of the circle together and pinch firmly.
- Bring the sides up to middle and pinch together, pinching all the way along the four lines to seal.
- You don't want any gaps so take your time to really pinch those edges together firmly.
- Continue with the other circles. If you find they are drying out then cover them loosely with plastic wrap and you can also use a little water on the edges around the filling so it sticks.
- Pop your finished lanterne on a tray lined with baking paper and dusted with course semolina. If you aren't cooking that day then they can be frozen for future use. Freeze them open on the tray then transfer them to a container or freezer bag.
- Finishing the dish
- Cook your lanterne in a pot of well salted water for 4 - 5 minutes.
- Melt the butter over medium - heat and when just sizzling add in the sprigs of thyme.
- Lower the heat to medium and cook for 3 - 4 mins until beginning to brown. Swirling the pan every so often to keep it cooking evenly. You want the milk solids to be brown NOT black.
- Transfer the cooked lanterne into the butter and let it gently bubble for 30 seconds or so. Any longer and the bottoms of the pasta will begin to crisp, which is fine if you like that!
- Serve between plates and top with the crisp thyme from the pan, some extra fresh thyme leaves too plus some freshly grated lemon zest.
- A little squeeze of lemon won't go astray plus some parmesan and a good crack of black pepper.
Video
Notes
- Please check out the photos of the shaping above the recipe.
- This filling will work in any ravioli, check out my triangoli if you want an easier shape to start with
Harriet Lai says
Never fail pasta dough and with a deliciously simple filling…in one word, YUM!
Ines Vasconcelos says
I’ve reviewed this recipe before but I just have to comment again as this filling is soooo delicious!!! I’ve made it several times, absolutely love the crunchiness of the bacon! At first I was going with an easy ravioli shape but now I’ve been making it with lanterne and it’s such a fun shape and really not difficult following Emilie’s explanation!
All the best from Portugal ??
Daniela says
Hy, 🙂 i'm Daniela
great recipe, great site and great job! very well done
so i saw a photo that is in the front of home page with lantern pasta but seems different for the recipe - in that phot i saw olives, and sort of bread?
can you please show the recipe?
looks amazing!
thank you, yours Daniela
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Daniela! the pic on my homepage was just a promo shot. If you want to make it follow the lanterne shaping guide in this recipe and make a brown butter sauce, some sourdough croutons and olives. Follow my 10 Min brown butter recipe for the sauce. Hope that makes sense?
Ellen says
I made this over the weekend and it was incredible. Surprisingly simple and I could make it and freeze on Saturday and serve the perfect pasta on Sunday!
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Ellen, so glad you enjoyed!! Love making it the day before, makes cooking it a breeze!
Helen says
Don’t make this recipe if you’re not committed to making it over and over and over. Because it was absolutely DELICIOUS! We made some same day and froze the rest. The only thing I’m disappointed in is that we didn’t make a bigger batch.
PS Happy Birthday
Emilie Pullar says
haha love this!! Thanks so much Helen 🙂
Ines Vasconcelos says
This one’s a favourite, I’ve made this filling several times now! Usually I just make it for ravioli but will have to give lanterne a try!
Emilie Pullar says
So glad you enjoy it! Definitely give the lanterne a try, it's a fun shape to make 🙂
Liz says
Absolutely loved this, now planning to work my way through the rest of your recipes ????
Emilie Pullar says
Yay, glad you loved it Liz! Thanks so much for making
Amanzi says
This bacon filling is heavenly! It really comes through and in a simple sage-butter sauce, it’s the perfect decadent meal. The instructions for folding the lanterns are so easy to follow leaving you with beautiful packages of goodness!
Emilie Pullar says
Hi! Yay so glad you enjoyed! I love this filling so much 🙂