Homemade Pasta Recipe: Ravioli from scratch

Here’s a recipe I’ve used to make ravioli, including the filling, from scratch. ((Photo courtesy of Dev Null)) I found the recipe several years ago on the web, but unfortunately don’t remember where. In any case, here’s the recipe. It makes a LOT of pasta – enough for at least 6 people. The ravioli filling is my own creation – and its damn tasty.

There are essentially four steps:

1. Make the dough
2. Make the filling
3. Make the ravioli
4. Cook

Step 1: Make the Dough

Ravioli Pasta Dough Recipe ((As I mentioned above, this recipe makes a lot of dough. If trying it out for the first time, consider making a 1/3 batch.))

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 large egg
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water

Place about 3/4 of the flour into a large bowl. Separately mix the egg, oil, salt and water. Add the wet ingredients to the flour. Mix everything thoroughly.

Kneed in the remaining flour. This takes a long time.

Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes in the fridge. In the meantime, let’s move on to…

Step 2: Make the filling

Garlic Spinach Ricotta Ravioli Filling

• 1/2 cup frozen spinach
• 1 tablespoon of garlic minced
• 3 tablespoons finely grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt

Defrost spinach in bowl and drain. Mix in everything else. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate when not in use.

Step 3: Make the ravioli

• When ready to make the ravioli, only remove a very small amount from the plastic to work with at a time. ((If you’re using a pasta press, you already know what you’re doing so you don’t need to read this.)) I only worked with pieces of dough about the size of a standard 6-sided-die.
• Squish the piece of dough into a disc about the size of a silver dollar.
• Place the dough on a plastic cutting board. I prefer the kind with the non-skid rubberized ends.
• Roll the dough as thinly as possible. You’re going for almost translucent in the center. A heavy rolling pin helps.
• Add about 1/2 tablespoon of the filling to the center.
• Fold the dough in half and pinch the edges.
• Set each piece aside on wax paper on a large plate. The wax paper is to prevent the ravioli from sticking to the plate. Don’t let the ravioli touch each other since they will stick together.
• Cover the ravioli on the plate with plastic wrap while you work.

Step 4: Cook

• When ready to cook, add the pasta to boiling water in a large pot and then lower to medium heat after a minute.
• Cook for 5-7 minutes. ((5 minutes if you have very thin ravioli, 7 minutes if your pasta was thicker))
• The ravioli will tend to stick to the bottom of the pot, so stir once or twice.

Enjoy!