Lemon and Ricotta Ravioli

So....time to talk about some home-made food which we have created in our home kitchen....in fact my mom has cooked it twice already and today was the day I was being taught how to make ravioli from scratch and then stuff them.....

Yes, we have a pasta machine which I do believe is necessary, we have tried it without and in all honesty one just cannot get the dough thin enough. And yes, we also have the ravioli machine....but neither of them is electronic...all by hand.

Let's start with the dough...simple....one egg per 100g flour "00" and one calculates 100g per person....so we had 6 eggs and 600g flour "00". One should do a mountain, with a hole in the middle (like a volcano), add the eggs into the opening and mix the egg with a fork and then slowly mix it all up, kneading the dough until it becomes smooth. Once smooth wrap it in cling film for one hour, room temperature....let me share an illustration:

Illustration of making the dough

While the dough rests, make the ricotta and lemon filling. For 600g use:

• 250g ricotta
• 100g grated strong cheese (gruyere, pecorino parmesan)
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 1/2 lemon zested
• 1 egg yolk (keep the white for afterwards)

Mix all the ingredients together and taste, you might like to add some more cheese or some more lemon, it depends on your taste.

Once the ravioli is ready, time to put the dough through the machine. From the 600g cut into hand size portions, I would say about 6 portions, and then put it through the pasta machine on size 0. Everytime it has gone through, fold it and repeat 5x. The aim: to get a wide dough in order to stuff ravioli afterwards. After that, choose size 1 and put the dough through once, then choose size 2 etc etc until you have put it through size 6. The dough should be nice and long and thin. Let me share some pics....

 Me rolling the pasta dough

Me rolling the pasta dough further

As you can see it gets longer and longer...then make sure you flour it really well every time is passes through the pasta machine or you might have a big sticky mess.....once it has gone through size 6...also flour it a lot and place it on top of the ravioli forms. With a brush, brush the edges of the ravioli form with the egg white, this is to help stick the two sides of the ravioli together once stuffing is inside. Then add a tiny teaspoon of filling to each ravioli. Don't add too much because otherwise the ravioli will pop....have a look....

 Me stuffing the ravioli

Ravioli are stuffed, you can see the ravioli form underneath 

The picture above shows what it should look like just before closing the ravioli. After this, you cut the end of the pasta dough off with a knife and place it on top of these stuffed ravioli. Then with a wooden rolling  pin close it and press really hard so the end bits of the dough almost fall off by themselves. Then turn the ravioli cutter upside down and the ravioli should just pop out. If they do not...then you did not use enough flour...cause it should not stick. 

I know this because my first round they stuck a little bit and after that I added much more flour there was no problem at all. In other words...do not be shy with the flour....have a look...

My good-looking ravioli

I managed to make 72 ravioli. Once they are all done, they are ready to be cooked immediately, of course in boiling water, takes about 5 min and then you can drain them. I did not make all 72 at the same time, in fact I made them in 2 batches, once we finished the first batch, I made round two...much nicer to have them fresh and warm, and after all, it does not take a lot of time. 

Yes, there is a sauce...now to that part...in a pan melt butter...as much as you want...but remember it melts...so it decreases....then add sage...tear the sage leaves...again as much as you want...i add quite a lot because I love the taste. Also, once you have heated it all up, switch the heat off and let the sage get crispy...it gives it a great texture. 

Once the ravioli is cooked, dish up for everyone, add the sauce and sprinkle with some grated parmesan....and voila...finito...perfect summer ravioli.....yummie...enjoy...I am getting hungry as I write about it...so I guess it is time for me to go make some alfresco lunch.....some Caprese salad with some buffalo mozzarella. To end this blog...let me share a pic of the finished product....

Lemon and ricotta stuffed ravioli with a butter and sage sauce