Making Raviolis

This is the first time in about a year and a half that I have brought out the pasta maker. I have tried and tried again to make the perfect ravioli and have just about given up. A lot of recipes say you can just use wonton wrappers for the pastry but, I don't think it tastes quite right and it definitely doesn't feel authentic.

So, I tried a new pasta recipe and hired a really good assistant....

First, I prepared the dough an hour before I needed it. I left it to stand, covered with an inverted bowl to let the gluten relax. This was a new step from my past tries.

An hour passed and it was time to get the pasta maker and the assistant in the kitchen.



This is not a one person job although I'm sure some little Italian ladies would tell you different. We must have run the pasta dough through the machine about 15 times. Each time it got thinner and longer.

Once we had two long sheets we dropped the mounds of filling in the center of one sheet.



Then topped it with the second sheet



Now, it's a tricky process to get all the air out of the ravioli. Air pockets increase the chance of the ravioli breaking while boiling.



Next, we needed to cut the pasta with a cookie cutter. As you can see, I don't have a cookie cutter so I used a coffee cup. Note to self... must buy cookie cutter ASAP.



And, voila... It's raviolis!!!



Here is a photo of the cooked version.



They were spinach and ricotta raviolis with a basil oil. All in all, these were the absolute BEST raviolis we've made thus far. The pasta texture and flavour was perfect. I'm very keen to try making raviolis again in the very near future with my handy helper.