There are pasta making machines and food processors, but if you don’t have either, don’t bother buying them. You can learn to make raviolis by hand!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour – do not use self-rising flour or whole-wheat flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Butter
- A few mixing bowls
- A rolling pin
- A potato masher
- A pizza cutter or butter/dinner knife
- A fork
- A pot
- A strainer
- A ladle
Blend the flour and salt in a large bowl, forming a well in the middle. In another bowel, beat the eggs, water and olive oil and pour the liquid into the flour well. Mix the contents with your hands.
Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured counter, and kneed for 8 more minutes. Add in a little more flour if the dough is too sticky. Kneed the dough until it is smooth.
Hand-rolling
Divide your dough into four equal pieces (leave the three pieces in the mixing bowel covered with a dish towel). Using a rolling pin, roll the ball of dough until it is 1/8 inch thick.
Fold the dough to a small square and re-roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick. Repeat this process a few times until the dough is thin enough to where you can see your hand through it. Be careful not to make it so thin that it tears.
The final product should be a large thin rectangle pasta sheet.
Find a place in the house where you can hang the pasta sheets. Place lint-free kitchen towels over the back of chairs or over a railing and then hang the sheets on top until you finish the other three balls of dough. Do not let the sheets dry completely.
Return a sheet of pasta to the flat surface, and with a pizza cutter cut equal squares or rectangles for your raviolis. You will end up with end waste. Don’t through it away. Ball all of it again and create a few more rectangles for more raviolis.
There are two hand-cutting strategies.
1) Cut a rectangle piece of dough that you will fold over after you place the filling onto one side.
2) Cut two equal squares that you will stack to enclose the filling.
Sweet Potato Feta Filling
- 10 oz of steamed and cubed sweet potatoes
- 8 oz of Feta cheese
- 1 teaspoon of thyme or oregano
- salt and black pepper
Once you’ve peeled and steamed the sweet potatoes, mix all the ingredients in a bowl. With a potato masher breakdown the sweet potato and feta cubes. You can either make a smooth filling (you can use a processor) or a chunky filling.
Sealing the Raviolis
After you place 1 tablespoon or less of the filling onto a piece of ravioli, seal the ravioli by running a wet finger along the edges of the ravioli.
The lukewarm water rehydrates the dried pasta surface and makes it sticky. Place the other half of the ravioli over the filling.
With your fingers press the sides together. You can also use your fingernails or a fork to press the sides together, creating a pattern.
Cooking
Set a large pot of water to boil while you are filling and sealing your raviolis. As you seal your raviolis, place them on a lint-free kitchen towel not far from your pot of boiling water.
Raviolis should only be cooked in the boiling water up to 4 minutes. Do not over cook or over crowd the raviolis in the pot. Let them sink to the bottom of the pot.
After they have floated to the top of the pot, time them for 3 more minutes before placing them in a strainer.
Ravioli Sauce
- A bar of butter
- 1 teaspoon of thyme or oregano
- Melt a bar of butter in a pan, over low heat, and sprinkled a teaspoon of oregano or thyme. Let it cook for a few minutes until the butter is slightly brown.
Freeze uncooked Raviolis
You don’t have to cook all your raviolis at once. Cook only what you intend to eat that day. The rest of the uncooked raviolis can be placed on trays that will fit your freezer.
After a few hours, transfer the raviolis into a plastic bag or container and keep them in your freezer until you are ready for more. Just boil a pot of water and put in your frozen raviolis. Again, cook the raviolis for three minutes after they rise to the top.
Learn more at The Joy of DIY.