Simple as 1-2-3: Making Homemade Raviolis 101

I have wanted to make homemade ravioli forever! Well the time finally came! My moms uncle, my great uncle, came over to teach us! It was an amazing experience! It became a 4 generation cooking lesson between him, my mom, myself and my daughter as a look on! We listened to him tell us stories about my papa, my moms dad, and about how it was back in the day! It was such a nice day to enjoy with family!

Here is the how to on how to make homemade raviolis!

This amount is good enough for about 5 people. If you want to freeze I would double or even triple this recipe!

Add 4 cups of flour

Get the air out of the flour by turning on the Kitchen Aid and mixing it together using the dough hook.

Add 5 eggs and mix in the Kitchen Aid using the dough hook

Add water if necessary, do this in small quantities to get desired consistency.

Knead the dough with small quantities of flour

My Italian great uncle showing us Italian girls how it is done!

Place the dough in saran wrap for 15 minutes.

Now it is time to use the pasta maker...

Lay out a bed sheet to lay the pasta on and get started...

After the 15 minutes is up cut the dough into three parts…

The next step may seem redundant but it is worth it in the end!!

Flatten a piece of the dough into a rectangle shape..

We normally use the handle on the pasta machine but my great uncle brought over a Norpro pasta machine motor. BEST INVENTION EVER! Makes the process go SO much faster!

Feed the pasta through the machine...

Fold it and feed it through the machine three more times repeat steps three times:

fold
flour
place through machine

After it has gone through the machine 3 times lay it out on a the sheet you laid out.

Do this with each piece of dough.

After you have done this once…do it again to make the pasta longer. Move the "notch" on the pasta maker smaller to thin out the pasta.

**Do this three times again for each piece.

NOTE: As pasta sits on the sheet, cover it with half the sheet so it doesn't dry out.

Move the "notch" on the pasta maker one more time to the smallest it can go.

**Do this only one time*.

NOTE: As pasta sits on the sheet, cover it with half the sheet so it doesn't dry out.

Lay out on sheet.

Note: If it needs to dry out a little place some flour on top of the pasta.

Cover with half of the sheet while you make the filling!

Filling:

Ricotta 3lbs

TIP: Let drain for 24 hours in a colander over a bowl over night. Place saran wrap on top and place in fridge. This helps the ricotta from not being to wet when placing it in the raviolis.

TIP: When you by Ramona Locatelli Cheese make sure you by it with the rind off the sides. If you buy it with it on the sides you will end up taking off some of the cheese and it will be a waste. Have the rind only on the back end of the cheese. When the cheese is almost finished you can use the rind to season a soup! Waste not want not!

Mix:

Ricotta, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of Ramona Locatelli Cheese, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 2 Tbs of parsley and pepper to taste.

Mix together!

Get your large or small (whichever you prefer) ravioli mold ready!

Open the sheet and take a knife to cut your pasta sheet to match the size of the mold.

Place the sheet of pasta on the silver part of the mold. Take the white part of the mold and place on top to create the inner part of the ravioli.

Tip: Place flour along the edges of the mold to help the ravioli fall out easily.

Take the ricotta mixture and place in each little "hole" in the mold.

TIP: Use a steel scoop .5 Tbsp to scoop ricotta mixture

Tip: Take a spoon and press into the ricotta mixture this helps get the air out of the ricotta. You do this so that when you place it into the boiling water to cook it won't burst when it hits the water.

Wet your finger and rub on all edges to help the pasta sheets stay together.

Cut another piece pasta sheet to hang a little bit over the pasta and ricotta mixture. This will be the top of the ravioli casing.

Take a rolling pin and roll it across the mold.

Press hard enough that you can see the ravioli squares.

Take the back of the rolling pin to flatten out the sides.

Tip: You can use a plastic painters tool to help you with this process like we did!

Roll along the edges so that you can take the extra dough off to create the ravioli edges.

Use your hand to take off the loose dough.

TIP: You could use the left over scrap pieces for pasta! Just throw into boiling water, place some sauce on top and enjoy! Who says pasta has to be all once size?!?!

Once you have done this you can take out a cookie sheet and flip the ravioli mold down on to it until it falls out.

Repeat steps until you fill up the cookie sheet.

Now it was mine and my moms turn to try out what we learned...

My mom was really excited that she got it right!

If you plan on eating the ravioli that night place saran wrap over it and place in fridge.

If you want to freeze the ravioli this is what you need to do:

-Place trays in freezer to flash freeze them (20-30 minutes)

-After you do this break them apart and place them in a freezer safe bag. Get all the air out to preserve them!

Make your sauce. Check out how we made ours: SAUCE

When you are ready to eat your ravioli boil water that you salted! Once the water is boiling then you can place the ravioli inside. When they float is when you know it is done!!