How to Make Homemade Ravioli

Remember that time I learned how to make egg pasta? Well, it wasn't until recently I became a little obsessed with it.

Z and I got a manual pasta machine as an engagement gift, and we've been saying - for over a year now - that we can't wait to use it. So, this past Saturday - when we finally had no plans and nowhere to be - we made our own egg pasta.

We made linguine to freeze and eat later (and, a few days later, I made more linguine), but for dinner on Saturday, we decided to make ravioli. I winged the filling - some ricotta, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, salt, and pepper - but the delicate pasta made the meal. 

For starters, here's the super easy recipe for the egg pasta base:

Fresh Egg Pasta

Recipe from Sweet Thing Food

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-3 large eggs, beaten

-Water, as needed

Directions:

1.) Pulse flour in food processor to aerate it. Add eggs and process until the dough forms a rough ball, about 30 seconds. (If dough resembles small pebbles, add water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time. If dough sticks to the side of the work bowl, add 1 tablespoon flour at a time and process).

2.) Turn the dough and small bits onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand until the dough is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let relax for 15 minutes.

3.) Cut the dough into five even pieces and, using a manual pasta machine, roll out the dough (if you don't have a pasta machine, I've heard rolling out the dough with a rolling pin also works, but I have never tried it myself):

A. Cut about 1/5 of the dough from the ball and flatten it into a disk. Run the disk through the rollers set to the widest position (0); bring the ends of the dough toward the middle and press down to seal.

B. Feed the open side of the pasta dough through the rollers; repeat A and B.

C. Without folding again, run the pasta through the widest setting twice, or until the dough is smooth. If the dough is at all sticky, lightly dust with flour. Begin to roll the pasta thinner by putting it through the machine repeatedly, narrowing the setting each time.

D. Roll until the dough is thin and satiny, dusting with flour if sticky. You should be able to see the outline of your hand through the pasta. Lay the pasta on a clean kitchen towel and cover with a damp cloth; repeat with other pieces of dough. (I actually just let the pasta dry for 30 minutes, with no damp cloth, and it came out fine). 

[Print this recipe]

Once your pasta has dried for at least 30 minutes, you can begin to make the ravioli.

The first step: Brush a little bit of egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water) on each sheet of dough. Then, spoon about 1 tablespoon of your filling along a sheet of dough, leaving about 1 inch between each spoonful.

Then, lay another sheet of dough over the filling, pressing the dough around and in between each ball, so it sticks to the other sheet of dough underneath. 

Cut in-between each ball of filling to form the ravioli (I used a pizza cutter). Then, press down the sides of each ravioli square with a fork to seal each ravioli closed. 

Yes, there is one smaller ravioli than the rest of them. But it made a good taste tester! ;)

If eating the ravioli right away, boil in a pot of salted water for 1-2 minutes. Seriously, it's that fast. One word of advice, however: Boil the ravioli in water that's simmering over medium to high heat, versus very high heat. The dough is delicate enough that a rapid boil might cause the ravioli to open up.

If not eating right away, store ravioli in the fridge (either in a large Ziploc bag or air-tight container). If not eating for over a few days, store in the freezer. 

Serve with desired sauce (we smothered our ravioli in basil pesto). 

I know it may seem like a lot of steps, but making your own pasta - and even your own ravioli - is actually quite easy. The process definitely takes some time, but if you have it, it is so worth it. 

Have you ever made your own ravioli before? I'm excited to experiment with new pasta doughs and fillings!

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