Italian Ravioli Pasta Recipe

An Easy & Good Ravioli Pasta Recipe

I'm a huge fan of Italian food, and one of my favorite dishes is Stuffed Ravioli. Stuffed with meat, cheese, or any flavorful combination of Italian staples like Fresh Spinach and Ricotta Cheese makes my mouth water. 

While I can suggest even chicken piccata with capers can make for a good Ravioli stuffing if done right, because I find the normal sometimes boring, a simple cheese stuffed Ravioli is just fine with me!

Pasta Dough: To make your dough flat enough, using a rolling pin is perfect for most people. Now if you own a pasta machine, that's great. It allows for excellent consistency, and makes your job just a little easier and perhaps even cleaner. Either way, with a rolling pin or a pasta machine, you always want your pasta dough evenly flattened as much as possible.

Semolina flour is what I use when I make pasta. It gives you the flavor your looking for and the right amount of gluten to stand up to the boiling process. While you can use regular flour, I prefer the texture and flavor of Semolina. 

Ravioli Recipe By: Chef Jeffrey Kaufman  Traditional Ravioli Dough

• 8 to 8-1/2 +/- cups of Semolina Flour 
• 10 Egg Yolks 
• 1/8th cup water 
• 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive oil 
• 1/4 tsp Salt +/-

Mound the Flour into a hill, and make your self a center pit all the way to the table's surface. You are basically making the flour your mixing bowl. Add the yolks, water and oil. Slowly collapse the flour into itself as you mix by hand. 

Now because your using just yolks and semolina flour, your dough should be a nice rich yellow color. Mix thoroughly and knead till your dough is highly pliable but still elastic and firm. You may need to add a little more flour till you have it at the right consistency.

Portion the dough out into roughly 6-8 balls, about 3-inches in diameter and flatten with a rolling pin or shape small enough to fit into a pasta machine. You are wanting the dough to roll out to about a 1/4 inch in thickness, perhaps slightly thinner depending on your preference. I like the pasta thinner, but not so thin that you can see the stuffing through the pasta. 

So if you get what I am saying and have rolled it out how you like it, you can start the process of stuffing your dough.

I myself own a few ravioli pans that help greatly when making these in a rush. Just know you are welcome to stuff them by hand, a little more messy, and time consuming, but it can be done.

Stuffing Recipe for the Raviolis

• 1 container or about (16 ounces) ricotta cheese 
• 2 cups or 8 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese or fresh buffalo mozzarella 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 
• 1 whole egg, lightly beaten 
• 2 teaspoons fresh basil minced fine, rinsed well 
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley, rinsed and drained properly  
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano 
• 1/4 teaspoon minced fine garlic cloves 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt & white pepper

Mix well and allow to sit for about 20 minuets. Letting it sit will help in releasing fluid from the ricotta cheese than can hinder your stuffing procedure. If the stuffing is too wet, you can expect your dough to not withstand handling while you stuff them.

Lay one sheet of dough over your ravioli pan, and press slightly into the mold. Using a regular spoon, add about 1/2 a spoon-full to each "pocket" but don't over fill. I always say eye them up so the filling isn't mounded above the top of the dough too far.

Lay your second sheet of dough over the top and gently press the dough together. My ravioli pans cut and crimp the ravioli when I roll a wooden dough pin over the top. I simply flip the pan and knock them out.

You can freeze them, or refrigerate them till your ready to use them. Normally in my kitchen, they are cooked as I go, but making a huge quantity and storing them frozen is really the best way to make these. 

This recipe is perfect for restaurants or at home. I enjoy writing these recipes, and hope you will enjoy my classic homemade ravioli recipe. Let me know how they turned out for you. CJAK