Week 21 – Homemade Cheese Ravioli

blackberryhill_65rb67 

Some product linked in this post are affiliate links which help our blog a little at no cost to you.

Jump to Recipe

I understand that the idea of making pasta can be a little intimidating. But that’s kind of what this challenge is all about, ANYONE CAN BAKE!

I know, I know, making pasta isn’t actually baking, but in my mind it is in the family. Flour, eggs, kneading, rolling…. Yeah, it’s baking!

I have always wanted to try my hand at pasta, so when I saw this recipe on KA’s website, I knew it needed to go into the lineup.

Now, you can absolutely do this at home with a bit of elbow grease and a rolling pin, but there are some inexpensive options that may make this easier. Let’s talk about it…

This tabletop pasta maker machine is manual, but will probably be easier than using a rolling pin. I don’t have this, but it gets the best reviews in this price category, so I feel like it is probably a decent option.

If you have a KitchenAid stand mixer, you may want to consider using this pasta attachment. This is the one that I use in the VIDEO. It isn’t cheap, that’s for sure, but it is the KitchenAid brand. There are a ton of alt brands on Amazon that will work with your stand mixer, although I haven’t used any, so I can’t vouch for quality.

Now, there are some electric machines that seem to mix and roll for you, Philips has one, Emeril has one, Hamilton has one…. But there aren’t many reviews and they are pricy and bulky. If you think you may get really into making your own pasta, then something like that may be worth it, but you should try pasta a few times before deciding that.

I’ve decided that I am all in on pasta, so I got this fun attachment as well for my KitchenAid… It does all the fun short noodle shapes. I can’t wait to play with it!

I have also ordered THIS fluted pasta cutter and stamp set. I am hopeful that it may help seal my edges a little better.

Ok… No more talking, let’s get to the recipe!

Details

Servings

aprx 30 ravioli

Prep time

40 minutes

Cooking time

8 minutes

Ingredients

  • Dough
  • 2 cups (240g) all purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt

  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature

  • Filling
  • 2 cups (454g) ricotta cheese

  • 1/4 cup (30g) all purpose flour

  • 4 tablespoons (12g) fresh herbs, finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (56g) Parmesan cheese, grated

  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (56g) pecorino Romano, grated

  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt

  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

  • To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. 
  • Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor and mix for 15 seconds to combine.
  • In a small separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, crack the eggs. With the food processor running, add the eggs one at a time, allowing each one to incorporate fully before adding the next. Once the last egg is in, continue processing until the mixture comes together in a large clump with just a few loose bits.
  • Transfer the dough to a clean work surface. Knead by hand for about 2 minutes to incorporate any loose bits and form a smooth dough. Form the dough into a disk about 1″ thick and wrap tightly with plastic or your favorite reusable wrap. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to overnight in the refrigerator. (If the dough is refrigerated, it will need to come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.) Meanwhile, make the filling.
  • To make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine all the filling ingredients. Cover and set aside at room temperature.
  • To assemble the ravioli: Line a baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle lightly with flour. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (about 190g each). Return 1 piece to the plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out while working with the remaining piece.
  • Roll the dough through a pasta machine on the largest setting once. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter (this helps it become a rectangular shape initially) before rolling it a second time on the largest setting.
  • Adjust the pasta machine to the next increment and pass the dough through. Continue adjusting the setting and rolling the dough through the machine until you’ve used setting #8 on a standard pasta roller (0.6 mm thick).
  • Dust the work surface with flour to prevent sticking. Use a bench knife to trim the sheet of pasta so that it measures 4 3/4″ wide and has clean edges. Save the trimmed dough pieces to incorporate into the reserved dough later.
  • Starting on the left-hand side, portion 1 tablespoon of filling 1/2″ from the left edge and 1/2″ from the bottom edge of the pasta sheet. (The top half will eventually be folded horizontally over the bottom half of the pasta sheet so the mounds of filling should be in the bottom half of the dough.) Continue adding 1-tablespoon portions of the filling at 1″ intervals down the length of the pasta sheet until you’ve reached the end of the pasta sheet on the right side; you’ll be able to fit about 14 to 15 portions of filling on one pasta sheet. (Be sure to leave at least a 1/2″ of pasta uncovered with filling after the last mound of filling; trim and save any excess dough, if necessary.)
  • Brush a thin layer of cool tap water on the pasta sheet along the 1/2″ bottom edge and on either side of each of the scooped filling mounds.
  • Fold the top of the pasta sheet over to cover the filling mounds, matching the top edge with the bottom edge. Starting in the center of the pasta sheet and moving outward in both directions, press out any air pockets between the filling mounds and lightly seal the pasta to encase the filling.
  • Use a fluted pastry wheel or knife to trim the bottom edge and ends of the pasta sheet; then slice between the filling mounds to create individual ravioli. Move the pieces to the prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel.
  • Repeat with the remaining dough (incorporate accumulated trim from the first round) and filling.
  • To cook the pasta right away, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add a portion of ravioli to the water, ensuring they can all cook without overlapping. Boil for 6 to 8 minutes, flipping individual ravioli every couple of minutes to promote even cooking. Drain the ravioli and serve immediately with your sauce of choice.
  • Storage information: Freeze uncooked ravioli on the flour-lined baking sheet until solid; then transfer to a zip-top bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 weeks and boil directly from frozen. Frozen ravioli may require a couple extra minutes of cooking time. Leftover cooked pasta can be stored in the refrigerator with sauce, covered, for up to 2 days.

For me, cooking the darn things were the hardest part. I lost half of the first batch because they split open and lost all of the filling. I was pretty frustrated about it, so Scott did some reading and asked to help out. He reduced the amount of water by half, and turned the temp down when it started to boil. Then he added the ravioli and DID NOT STIR. He simply flipped them over at about five minutes. He still had one or two split open, but most of them stayed intact. He also wanted to experiment with the air fryer and those turned out great as well!

Dinner turned out great and I will be making pasta again for sure!

Recommended Posts

Leave A Comment