090805 – Homemade Ricotta Ravioli

090805 – Homemade Ricotta Ravioli

090806, 9:20 am
Filed under: DINNER | Tags: pasta, tomatoes, vegetarian

I will start by saying that the pasta made just enough for 6 adults.  Had I used a pasta machine, it could have fed 8.  We used a combination of online recipes and The New Best Recipe book that I have falling in love with…  Unfortunately the pasta dough was intended for a pasta machine  – but i thought i could work it by hand.  I rolled it out as well as I could, but the elastic, resilient dough resisted my efforts and in the end was twice  as thick as it should have been.  I would not attempt this dough again without a pasta machine or very strong helper.

The ricotta filling was delicious.  The recipe below made just the right amount to go with the pasta.

Joe made an amazing red sauce.  If I had been making this alone, i would have used jarred sauce for times sake.  We served the pasta with some French Bread from my most recent BBA Challenge, a salad, and some watermelon.

Fresh Ricotta Cheese:

(recipe yields about 1 1/2- 2 C ricotta)

• 1/2 gallon whole milk
• 1/6 C white vinegar
• 1 t salt
  

1. rinse a large, heavy duty pot with cold water. This helps the milk from adhering to the pot.
2. Add milk and heat to roughly 180°F, stirring occasionally.
3. Once the milk has reached 180°F, remove from heat, add vinegar and salt.  Stir ONCE, cover with a clean dishtowel or cloth napkin,  then let it sit undisturbed for 2 hours.
4. Line a colander with cheesecloth and set so that it can drain over a large bowl.
   
5. Scoop the curdled cheese from the pot with a slotted spoon into the cheesecloth.  Let it drain for 1-2 hours depending on the creaminess you want.  We were crunched for time, so Joe pressed the cheese with the cheesecloth, ringing out as much moisture as possible.  This worked fine for ravioli, but the cheese would have been better if we had the time to let it sit.

Ravioli filling:

• 1 1/2 C Ricotta cheese
   
• 1/2 C fresh parsley, minced
  
• 3/4 C Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 t salt
• pinch fresh ground pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together until basically homogeneous.

 

Pasta:

The recipe below makes roughly 1lb of pasta.  For 6 adults, I made a double batch.

• 2 C all purpose flour
• 3 eggs

1. Measure flour out into a food processor and pulse until fluffy.
2. Add eggs and mix for 30 seconds straight, then pulse for an additional minute or so as the dough forms a ball.  It will look like small pebbles at first, then eventually come together.  If it stays in pebble form for 45-60 seconds, add 1-2 t water (1t at a time).  I made two batches of dough and each one needed about 1 1/2 t water.
3. roll dough ball and few remaining pebbles onto a dry counter and knead for 1-2 minutes.
   
4. cover dough w/ plastic wrap and let rest for 15  min- 2 hours.
   
5. Feed through pasta machine to create 5-6″ wide sheets for ravioli.  Or, if you’re like me, use a rolling pin and make it AS THIN AS POSSIBLE.
   
6. Add a dollop (t sized) of ricotta mixture in a row along dough strip, fold dough in half and push closed around ricotta.  Using a pastry wheel (or regular knife), cut between each ricotta pouch and trim excess dough off seam edges.
   
7. cook for 4-5 min in pot of rapidly boiling salted water.
   

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