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Ravioli (Dough and Choice of 4 Fillings)

Course Main dishes, Pasta
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 2 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 2 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

Dough

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup water

RICOTTA FILLING 1

  • 1 1/2 lbs. ricotta cheese (drained)
  • 1/4 lb. romano cheese freshly grated (about 1-cup)
  • 2 eggs slightly beaten
  • 1/4 lb. mortadella or 1/4 lb ham or 1/4 lb prosciutto or 1/4 lb salami, chopped fine (optional)
  • 1 dash of nutmeg
  • salt & pepper

RICOTTA FILLING 2

  • 1 1/2 lbs. ricotta cheese, drained
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup romano cheese, freshly grated
  • 1 1/2 to 2 tbs. parsley Italian flat leaf, finely minced
  • 1/4 to 1/3 tsp cinnamon
  • salt & pepper

BEEF AND SPINACH FILLING

  • 1/4 lb. ground beef
  • 1/4 lb. ground veal
  • 1 tbs. butter
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 cup spinach cooked, chopped and squeezed dry
  • 1 tbs. parsley Italian flat leaf, chopped
  • 2 eggs slightly beaten
  • 2 tbs. romano cheese, freshly grated
  • 1 dash of nutmeg

SAUSAGE FILLING

  • 3/4 lb. Italian sausage sweet, link (or casings removed from links)
  • 2 eggs slightly beaten
  • 2 tbs. romano or Parmesan cheese, freshly grated,

Instructions

MAKING THE FILLING

  • Ricotta Filling#1: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
  • Ricotta Filling#2: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
  • Beef and Spinach Filling: Brown beef and veal in butter with the whole clove of garlic.
  • Remove garlic and let meat mixture cool.
  • Mix spinach, parsley, eggs, cheese and nutmeg into cooled meat until well blended, set aside filling until needed.
  • Sausage Filling: Brown sausage in frying pan, drain fat and allow sausage to cool.
  • When sausage has cooled, mix in eggs and cheese, set aside filling until needed.

MAKING THE RAVIOLI DOUGH

  • Sift flour and salt together.
  • Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
  • Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly
  • Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
  • Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
  • Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).

FILLING THE RAVIOLI:

  • Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
  • When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
  • Cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.

DRYING THE RAVIOLI:

  • Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.

COOKING THE RAVIOLI:

  • Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.
  • Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well. Place drained ravioli on a serving platter in layers, alternating layers with your favorite sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese between each ravioli layer. Serve hot.

Notes

"Posted in reply to a message board request. This is the family recipe for homemade ravioli. I have included 4 filling variations along with the ravioli dough recipe. Please note that this dough was made by hand and not with a pasta machine. Feel free to use the fillings with your own favorite pasta dough recipe (hand or machine). Prep time includes 1 hour drying time."