Well... as long as you don't include the two screwed up batches. But I've learned my lesson and hopefully won't repeat those mistakes again. It's actually kind of funny. Granted, I didn't laugh much last night when it was going on, but now that it's over it's not so bad.
First I made a perfect batch of pasta. It was a thing of beauty, truly. Pliable, even, it just felt good to the touch. Then I realized that I hadn't actually put the filling together yet. Ack! Okay, grab the ingredients... WAIT! The mozzarella isn't even grated yet! OMG, it's a pain to grate. Do I have time to pull out the food processor with the grater attachment? Is it worth it for making a batch of ravioli for one? By the time I get it all out, I could be done. Heck, I didn't want much mozzarella in there anyway. I'll just keep fighting with the hand grater. Okay, the filling is ready. Now to get the sheet of pasta and put it on the ravioli mold... Um... it's kind of stiff. It definitely seems to have dried a bit. Maybe it will be okay? (I press the form into it to make pockets and the pasta cracks in every pocket.) M'kay, that's no good. Should I try to see if I can rescue it? No, I'm pretty sure that isn't possible. Let's start again.
I start a second batch of pasta. It feels a little sticky, so I add more flour. It still feels a little sticky so I add more flour. It doesn't feel sticky at all, so I pull it out of the bowl. It's so dry it just shreds as I try to roll it. Should I try to see if I can rescue it? No, I'm pretty sure that isn't possible. Let's start again.
Third batch is perfect. Just like the first one, except I don't let it sit around and dry out. In fact, I get it on the mold so quickly I forget to sprinkle any flour on the sheets and they stick to the mold. But they're filled, and I'm not going to take any more crap from my food tonight, damnit, so I get them out of the mold in spite of themselves. I also should have let them sit before boiling them, and I also forgot to add salt to the pasta water. And I used a jarred sauce (but one that happens to be awesome). But you know what? They were great. I'd made enough for leftovers the next night... but I ate the leftovers also. No, I didn't really have stomach room for them. But I shook my left leg so it would hollow out a little and stuffed the second batch of ravioli in.
Recipe:
Serves 2... or 1... depending on your self control.
NOTE:
- Adjust as needed for whatever equipment you're using. But I'm giving directions for the equipment I had because how would I know how to do it any other way?!?
- I used my KitchenAid for both the mixing and the rolling.
- I have a ravioli press that's kind of like a ice cube tray with an inset to form the pockets. It's this one: Ravioli Maker I'll make another blog post about how it works, since it's pretty cool.
- I keep flour in a shaker (like the one in Starbucks they keep full of cinnamon) for dusting stuff like hands, cutting board, the entire front of my shirt. I find it easiest to work with that way. If you're a pro and can just scatter an even layer of flour across a board from your bare hand... you're probably not even reading this.
Filling:
- About 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- About 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- About 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
- Do this first. Trust me, it needs to be ready. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to have the water on the stove already also.
- Mix everything up. I used my stand mixer for this. A food processor would probably work just as well if not better. But then, a big spoon would do the job. Just get it done.
- Put it all in a small sandwich bag, press it all to the bottom, and when you're ready you can just snip off a corner and squeeze the filling out like you're using a piping bag. Make the hole about the size of a nickel and you'll feel like a pro.
Pasta:
- 1 egg
- About a teaspoon of olive oil
- A pinch of salt
- About a cup of semolina flour
- Put egg, oil, and salt into work bowl of stand mixer with regular paddle (NOT the hook or the whisk!)
- Beat until fairly homogeneous on about speed 3 or 4.
- Pour in about 1/2 cup of flour. Ideally, the dough should want to stick to itself more than to the beater or the bowl or your fingers. It will still feel sticky to the touch, but shouldn't feel soaking wet. If it's hitting the sides of the bowl and all totally flattening out, looking like cake frosting, it's too wet. If it seems to want to come together if you'd just help it, it's probably about right. Reach in (after turning OFF the mixer, obviously!) and pinch a little to see if it's sticking all over your hand and needs more flour. If so, add sprinkle some over the top of the dough and run it another 15 - 20 seconds before checking again. Unless it totally looks like liquid, don't add more than a teaspoon or two at a time. When you think it's good, let it run in the bowl with the paddle for another minute or two. It should clean everything up from the sides and bottom of the bowl as it runs.
- Dust your hands with some AP flour and pull out the dough. Just that small amount of flour on your hands, coating the dough, should be enough to stop all feeling of stickiness. If not, it's still too wet and needs more semolina and more time in the bowl.
- Flatten out your dough into a disk about 1/3" thick. Feed it into the roller on its widest setting. The dough should neither stick to the roller nor need to be force-fed into it.
- If it sticks, try coating it with AP flour before folding it on itself, and give it another coating before re-feeding. Keep doing that until it stops trying to stick.
- If it has to be forced through, and it completely shreds as it comes out, you've got it too dry. Trust me, just toss it out and start over. Life's too short and you should have another egg on hand, right?
- If it's just a little ragged on the edges, that's okay. That will fix itself as you run it through several times and the gluten is formed.
- As your dough comes out, fold it in half or in thirds and feed it back through on the same width setting. If it starts getting too misshapen, feed it sideways next time (folding it enough so it will fit).
- Feed it through 5 or 6 times. Or 8 or 10 if it takes you that long to get the hang of it. But this is the kneading process, continuing the kneading you did in the bowl, and without this you won't form enough gluten and the pasta won't have the right texture. You probably shouldn't overdo this. Don't go 50 times or anything, or you might end up with chewing gum.
- Finally, when you've got a respectable looking rounded rectangle, start running it through on successively narrower settings. I ran mine down to 5.
- Dust the finished pasta with AP flour on both sides. I lightly flour a cutting board, lay a section of pasta on there, sprinkle flour on and use the palm of my hand to brush it across the entire surface. Then move the next section onto the board and repeat until the whole side is coated. Then flip it over and do the other side.
Assembly:
- Place one end of your pasta sheet over the ravioli tray. Make sure it covers the whole tray.
- Use the form to make the pockets
- Use your baggy of filling to fill the pockets, filling them completely but not bulging up over the top. When you're done, you want neither air pockets nor overflow.
- Take a brush and some water, and lightly brush the top edges of the ravioli to help them seal.
- Fold the loose end of the pasta sheet over the top, to cover everything.
- Run the roller over the top, sealing and cutting the ravioli.
Cooking:
- Let the ravioli sit and dry for a few minutes.
- Gently drop them into boiling, salted water.
- When it comes back to a boil, boil them gently (so they don't fall apart) for several minutes, turning occasionally. You'll see by the texture of them which side has been out of the water the whole time and needs to be flipped (turn one over and compare).
Sauce:
- Pick something. Make something. Whatever. Personally, I used some Mario Batali Marinara. This year I plan to see if I can make anything better than that, but it's going to be a challenge.
No, I didn't clean up the bowl or get good lighting on it or anything. This was dinner and it was ready. You're lucky I stopped to take a picture.
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