Laura's Homemade Ravioli

Fresh Homemade Ravioli Recipe

Serves approximately 5
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: 3/5

Note/ Tips: It is very useful (and ideal) to use a pasta machine for this recipe, but if you do not have one, or if it is unavailable, a rolling pin should do just fine! An easy way to get perfect store bought look-alike ravioli is to use a ravioli press. If you do not own one of these, you can cut them with a pizza cutter, which will make them look more rustic! You can always add more or less of the filling ingredients depending on what you like.

Ingredients:

For Pasta Dough:

~ 3 cups all-purpose flour or pasta flour
~ ½ tsp of salt
~ 2 eggs
~ ¼ cup of olive oil
~ ½ cup of water
~ Extra/ left over flour for dusting

For Filling 1:
Rating:  ***

~ ¼ to ½ cup of ricotta cheese (depending on how full you would like your ravioli)
~ ¼ cup of cooked peas
~ 1 tsp salt
~ Black pepper

For filling 2:
Rating: *****

~ ¼ to ½ cup of white kidney beans (depending on how full you would like your ravioli)
~ 4 tbsp of pesto sauce
~ 5 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese
~ 4 tbsp of garlic salt or 3 tbsp of ground/dried garlic powder
~ A pinch of salt
~ A tiny bit or a BIG amount of pepper, depending on your taste

Let’s start!

Dough:

Start of by beating the eggs using a fork. Add the water, salt and mix together. Add the flour a cup at a time and blend using a fork (you will most likely have left over flour which you can use to kneed your dough). If your dough seems too dry, add a little bit of water to your dough until it is slightly sticky. Kneed your dough on a floured surface until it is firm but no longer sticky. Tip: to know when your dough is ready, roll your dough into a ball and simply just poke it, if the whole your finger has made bounces back up, you know it is ready! Using you pasta machine or rolling pin, roll out thin sheets of pasta, preferably the size of your ravioli press (if you are using one).

Filling 1:

Simply crush your peas, add the ricotta cheese and seasonings, and mix well.

Filing 2:

Drain your beans of its juice and puree them using a fork. Add your cheese, seasonings and pesto. Mix well.

Let’s put them together!

Use the directions on your ravioli maker. Or lay down two sheets of pasta, spoon in your filling 0.5 inches apart from each other. Using your finger or a glaze brush, stroke a small amount of water in between each lump of filing. This is what will make your two sheets of pasta stick together. Using a pizza cutter cut squares or circles around your filling, making sure to leave some pasta around the filling. They should look like a square or round fried egg.

Boil or fry, serve with basil, butter and Parmesan.

Enjoy!

What I love about ravioli is that you are so free to make up and choose WHATEVER filling you like! You can even make the pasta dough coloured using food colouring or special ingredients such as squid or beetroot. I love sharing this recipe with friends and family, and seeing the surprise on their faces when they discovered that I made them!  I serve these whenever, usually for a casual dinner with my family.