Back in December I posted about
making ricotta cheese and how I made ravioli with it.
Today I did it again. Since my focus last time was on the cheese itself, I figured this time I could post about the ravioli.
I spent the day today making the dough, the cheese, and also the meatballs. I cheated and used sauce from a jar. I did puree the sauce into a more thin consistency as we don't care for the chunky stuff so much. I also made Pecorino-Romano garlic bread. Making that is kind of self explanatory so I wont bother putting it up here.
Before beginning the dough, put a large stock pot of water on the fire. You want boiling water on hand for when you are ready to cook your ravioli. Trust me you do not want to start boiling after you are done because it seems like forever to boil that much water. Add some olive oil and a fist of salt to the water. If you have a large amount of water on hand you wont have to worry about crowding or cooling the water down.
The pasta dough is very simple, all you need is some flour, egg yolks, salt, and if desired, garlic powder. On a large cutting board make a small mountain of flour. If you don't feel like sifting it first, don't sweat it, but don't forget to add a small bit of salt for flavor. The compactness of the flour actually helps you here. Stick your finger into the center and make small circles until there is a well in the center.
Inside the well add some egg yolks. You can start with three or four and see how it goes. On the last yolk I added the white as well as the yolk. I wanted to see if it made a difference. It did extend the moisture, but it did nothing else in my opinion. With a fork whisk the yolks while expanding the well. This will slowly draw the flour into the mix. This means that you control the mixture. When you have a loose dough, you can switch off and now use your hands. I work the dough until it is pretty solid, but not dry. It should be pretty sticky if you try to knead it in your hands. At this point you want it to rest so make it into a somewhat flat patty and dust it with flour. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to chill for an hour.
Once the dough has had a chance to rest, it is time to roll it out. If you have a pasta machine set it to #1. If you are rolling by hand, you will have to do a bit of work. Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball. Keep the remaining dough covered in plastic wrap. Initially the dough will be very sticky, you just keep sprinkling flour onto it as needed. I have a habit of rolling it out and then folding the two ends back onto itself. I do this a few times to make the dough elastic like. Once the dough has become stretchy and not sticky you are ready to start making it thinner. On the machine I work the dough two or three times per setting until I get to #4 setting. The thickness will be about 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch. Once this achieved, I lie it aside under the plastic wrap to rest and start again on another ball of dough. I repeat this until all the dough is rolled out.
If you have not already, season your ricotta. I use basil, garlic powder, and a bunch of pecorino-Romano cheese as a binder. Ricotta can be loose and the cheese does well to pull it all together. You do not want to have too much moisture inside the ravioli. It will steam, expand and burst your ravioli. Now back to the dough.
Take a strip of dough out and lie it out. With a small glass make light ring impressions onto the dough. This will tell you how far to space out the cheese portions. Now spoon the cheese into the center of the rings. Use enough to fill the circle about 50%. Once the strip is portioned with cheese, lie a second strip of dough over the first. After lining the two strips up, lightly press the dough all around the cheese lumps. This will push out most of the air from the ravioli. Now take the same glass and press the dough out with the cheese centered. With a firm press and a twist the ravioli disc should be now free. After completing a full strip cover the scrap dough and collect it as you go. This will be for the next batch to be filled. These discs will now need crimping. I use a small fork and lightly press all around the disc. Take care not to press too hard where you kill the top. Just crimp enough to seal.
Taking the left over dough you will repeat the rolling process again. If you keep it covered as you go, you will be able to reduce waste to a small marble of dough. I keep making ravioli until there is no more dough.
Now you are done, aren't you glad that you listened to me and had boiled the water?
At this point you can cook them. They cook fast so stay nearby. Once the
'learn to swim' (float) you can lift them out and serve. I usually have an audience by this point and have to serve them as they come out. The last ones are mine as the others are probably already eaten by the time the last one has been fished out.
I promise that once you make these, it will ruin it for any future ravioli you may have to eat. They are that good.
Every once in a while I will grab a baguette at the market with ideas of making a killer sandwich. Most times the sandwich is pretty big and the loaf gets used up fast. Other times the loaf will get devoured before I can make a sandwich, on rare occasions the loaf will sit all day waiting for me. When the baguette gets too tough for my taste I will opt to make my wife her favorite croutons. When these get made, I am always surrounded by family eager to 'sample' them for me. They are very helpful in that department.
