Ravioli Recipes

RAVIOLI (DOUGH AND CHOICE OF 4 FILLINGS)

Steps:

• MAKING THE FILLING: Ricotta Filling#1: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Ricotta Filling#2: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Beef and Spinach Filling: Brown beef and veal in butter with the whole clove of garlic.
• Remove garlic and let meat mixture cool.
• Mix spinach, parsley, eggs, cheese and nutmeg into cooled meat until well blended, set aside filling until needed.
• Sausage Filling: Brown sausage in frying pan, drain fat and allow sausage to cool.
• When sausage has cooled, mix in eggs and cheese, set aside filling until needed.
• MAKING THE RAVIOLI DOUGH: Sift flour and salt together.
• Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
• Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.
• Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
• Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).
• FILLING THE RAVIOLI: Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
• When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.
• Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
• Cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.
• DRYING THE RAVIOLI: Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
• COOKING THE RAVIOLI: Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.
• Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.
• Place drained ravioli on a serving platter in layers, alternating layers with your favorite sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese between each ravioli layer.
• Serve hot.

RAVIOLI DOUGH

Steps:

• In an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add eggs 1 at a time and continue to mix. Drizzle in oil and continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Sprinkle some flour on work surface, knead the dough until elastic and smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
• Cut the ball of dough in half, cover and reserve the dough you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with flour. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it through the pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at its widest setting. Guide the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. *Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue until the machine is at its narrowest setting. The dough should be paper-thin, about 1/8-inch thick.
• Dust the counter and dough with flour, lay out the long sheet of pasta. Brush the top surface of dough with egg wash. Drop 1 tablespoon of cooled filling about 2-inches apart on half the sheet of pasta. Fold the unfilled half over the filling. With an espresso cup or fingers, gently press out air pockets around each mound of filling and form a seal. Use a crimper to cut each pillow into squares. Check to make sure the crimped edges are well sealed before cooking. If making ravioli in advance, dust with cornmeal to prevent them from sticking.
• Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling salted water for 10 to15 minutes. Ravioli will float to the top when cooked so be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Lift the ravioli from water with a large strainer or slotted spoon. Plate the pasta, top with sauce and grated cheese before serving. Garnish plate with chopped herbs and toasted pine nuts.
• *For Herb-Patterned Pasta: Follow the standard recipe given above and roll it out to a medium-thick sheet. Next, take well-washed leafy herbs such as, basil, flat-leaf parsley and tarragon, pinch away the stems so only the leaves remain. Hand press the fresh herbs on the dough's surface at 1-inch intervals. Fold the dough over itself and run the "sandwich" through the pasta machine at a thin setting. The leaves will stretch and pattern the pasta. Continue making ravioli as indicated in the procedure.

HOMEMADE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Place 5 cups flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Beat the eggs, water and oil; pour into well. Stir together, forming a ball. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes, adding remaining flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes., Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally., In a large bowl, combine filling ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use., Divide pasta dough into fourths; roll 1 portion to 1/16-in. thickness. (Keep pasta covered until ready to use.) Working quickly, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling 1 in. apart over half of pasta sheet. Fold sheet over; press down to seal. Cut into squares with a pastry wheel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling., Bring a soup kettle of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer; cook until ravioli float to the top and are tender, 1-2 minutes. Drain. Spoon sauce over ravioli.

HOMEMADE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• To make the pasta, put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and egg yolks and mix with a fork, bringing more of the flour in from the sides as you mix. Once the mixture comes together into a ball, tip it out onto a work surface and knead for 10-15 mins until firm and smooth. Wrap and leave to rest for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the spinach with a few tablespoons of water, and cook until the spinach has wilted and is dark green and the water has evaporated. Stir in the lemon zest, grate over some nutmeg and season. Tip the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool.
• Cut the pasta dough into four pieces so it's easier to work with. Run one piece through a pasta machine (leaving the remaining pieces covered to prevent them drying out), starting with the widest setting and working down to the thinnest setting. Keep the machine and the pasta well floured to prevent sticking or tearing.
• Mix the ricotta into the spinach mixture and season well. Do this just before you're ready to fill the pasta, or chill until needed.
• To make the ravioli, cut a sheet of pasta in half so you have two equal lengths. Lay out on a well-floured work surface, then spoon heaped teaspoons of the filling, spaced 5cm apart, over one of the pasta sheets. Brush the exposed pasta around the filling with water. Gently lift the second pasta sheet over the fillings, and use the side of your hand to press the pasta sheets together around the fillings to seal, ensuring there are no air bubbles.
• Stamp out the ravioli using a round cutter (position it so the filling is in the centre of the circle), or use a sharp knife to cut out square ravioli. Arrange in a single layer over baking trays dusted with flour, then repeat the process with the remaining pasta dough pieces. Will keep, covered and chilled, for up to two days.
• To cook, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and gently lower in the ravioli using a slotted spoon. Boil for 2-3 mins until the pasta is cooked through, then remove to a bowl using a slotted spoon. (You may need to cook the ravioli in batches to ensure it's evenly cooked.)
• Heat the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, drop in the sage and fry until the butter turns a nutty brown and the sage leaves are crisp. Remove from the heat and toss in the ravioli. Sprinkle with parmesan and some lemon juice, then season with cracked black pepper and toss gently in the butter to coat. Divide between warm bowls and sprinkle with more parmesan before serving.

BAKED RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.
• Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

EASY RAVIOLI BAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2-inches, with cooking spray.
• Spread 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce in baking dish. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in single layer over sauce; top with half of the remaining pasta sauce and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers once, starting with ravioli. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil; bake 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly and hot in center. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.