Tips for ravioli

Merkin

I'm wondering if there are any ravioli officianados out there? I've gotten a bee in my bonnet recently to make ravioli as I've been dreaming up lots of lovely stuffings for revaioli but have not got a clue how to go about making ravioli itself! Do I need a pasta machine or can I do without? Isn't there a particular type of flour I need to use? Has anyone got a specific recipe or method they can recommend? Any advice welcome! Cheers

DaDartle

I like making ravioli. I use a pasta machine to roll it out thin enough. I forget the exact flour/egg ratio but I just use plain flour, eggs and maybe a teaspoon of cold water if it needs it. You can mix that together by hand or in a food processor just until it starts to form a ball. Refridgerate that for at least 30 mins, then you're able to start.

cut off appropriate sized pieces, put it through your machine until you get long, thin sheets.

You need to determine how you're going to make them. You can roll out one sheet, dollop on your spoons of filling and then fold the sheet over or you can roll out your sheet, put on your filling and then top that with another sheet and cut them.

One tip, if you're making alot of them and they'll be sitting around, they tend to stick to whatever they're on so either freeze them or keep them on a floured, cold surface.

that's what I do anyway.

kylith

100g of pasta flour to one large egg is the ratio I use. Plus a good pinch of salt. To roll it thin enough you will either need Herculean strength or a pasta machine; start on the widest setting and work your way gradually to the thinnest. It will look like crap the first couple of times it goes through the machine; this is normal. Keep the dough well floured or it'll stick to everything. Lay a sheet out, spoon dollops of filling every couple of inches then fold the sheet over lengthways to make the pockets. Make sure you get all the air out from around the filling; if you don't the air expands and breaks the pasta, letting water in and ruining the ravioli.

pickarooney

Personally, I find ravioli more hassle than they're worth and always make agnolotti/mezzalune instead. Roll out the pasta as normal and use a large glass (or cookie cutter) to cut out discs which you fill and fold over into half-moon shapes. Wet the edges before folding.