Hello everyone! It's starting to be a bit chilly here in London! We need some hot food to keep us warm š„¶ š„
I am sure you understood this by now, but I am Italianš®š¹.. So I thought I'd should you how to make fresh ravioli without the pasta maker! You can decide the filling you prefer, there are so many different options! I'll start with a spinach and ricotta one!
It's super easy to make fresh pasta - you just need some flour and eggs š„!
To be honest I thought I would take way longer, but it did take more or less an hour - not even! Ingredients for the pasta:
250 gr flour 00
3 medium fresh eggs
For the filling:
125 gr ricotta
250 gr spinach
Parmesan cheese
pepper
salt
+ the sauce you'd like for your ravioli! I went for butter and sage!
Making the Dough:
To form the dough all you need is flour and fresh eggs, as previously mentioned. Start by making a mound of flour - if you have on a marble surface. From here, make a well in the centre to form a crater-like shape.
Crack the eggs into the centre and, with a fork, start whisking to combine flour and egg, slowly incorporating more and more of the flour from the edges of the crater as you go along until youāre left with a thick, gooey paste.Ā
With your hands, start pressing the mixture together to form the dough and knead for at least 10 minutes. Don't over knead the pasta otherwise it will be too thick - trust me, you will recognise the difference once the ravioli are cooked!
Wrap the dough in a tea towel and set aside to rest for about 20-30 minutes at room temperature.
Tip: if you want to be quicker, you can do this process in a big bowl: flour and eggs together in the bowl, and then as soon as it's a bit sticky, you can then transfer it to the marble surface.
For the filling:
In a pan, add the spinach and let them cook for about 5 mins
Remove the water and put the spinach in a bowl with the ricotta
Mix with a spoon
Add Parmesan, pepper and salt and it's done! You can now do the pasta sheet
Pasta sheet:
I wanted to try and do the pasta sheets completely handmade, so I did not use my pasta maker (spoiler alert: next time, recipe with that!)
Now it's just patience and time ā
You can start rolling the dough with a rolling pin.
If it gets too sticky, don't worry - add a bit of flour underneath the dough.
Roll the pasta in strips of 2mm - 3mm. It's easier to do more than one strip; I did 4. Let's fill the ravioli in!
Filling the sheets
Take one strip, and add the filling with a spoon, roughly 5cm, apart.
Place the second strip directly on top. Before sealing, gently press on the dough around the filling to eliminate any excess air. Next, very lightly moisten the dough with your hands and press it firmly closed.
I bought the ravioli cutter - remember square for vegetable and meat fillings, round for fish fillings, and you'll be a pro Italian š
A good seal is important for keeping the filling inside so don't underestimate this step. Take your square ravioli cutter - if you don't have it a glass is fine as well of course - and press firmly on the dough around the filling. Finish with a final dusting of flour to keep your ravioli from sticking together.
Do the same with the third and forth strips!
Cook the ravioli
Take to boil some water, add salt.
When it boils, add the ravioli. it will take more or less 4 - 5 mins, but you will see when they are ready, they will start to rise to top and ready!
Do a quick sage and butter sauce and they are ready for you!
You can freeze your ravioli as well: when you want to do them, just take them out of the freezer and put them straight into the boiling water, no need to defrost before. It might take 1 or 2 mins more to cook, but they will taste exactly the same! Enjoyyyy
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