Today were going there loves. I’ve been telling myself that I’m going to make homemade pasta for years. I keep having a “That’s the recipe! I’m making one this week!” And then it doesn’t happen. I’m suck a slacker. Heck, I even had Homemade Pasta on my Operation 2013 list, but never talked myself into it. But this month Pass The Cookbook Club had a Three Cheese Ravioli on the recipe list. I told myself it now or never. Screw the pasta roller and just do it Julie. So I did.
Now if you were paying attention, you may have noticed I said that there’s no pasta roller in my house. I used my rolling pin and all the brute force I could muster to roll out this dough. It took forever for the dough to come together (I’m thinking due to recipe error?!?), and once It can together it was pretty firm for a dough. But I’m used to yeast dough for pizza and bread so I don’t know. I will tell you this much though, there’s no way I’m making homemade pasta again until I get a pasta roller. Even when I thought I’d rolled the dough thin enough, it was still too think – a taste test proved that.
Dough aside, this ravioli is delicious! The filling gets all gooey and cheesy and the basil is perfect. I tossed my ravioli in a spoonful of pesto. I was on a really big basil kick that day. But the ravioli would be extra amazing topped with a tomato cream sauce or vodka sauce to balance the cheeses. Overall, two thumbs up.
If you want to join the Pass The Cookbook Club, head on over to Kita’s first PTCC post to learn all about the club and then join the Pass The Cookbook Club Facebook group. Each month 3 recipes are posted for you to choose from – pick your fave, adapt as needed, and share it with the world! Easy peasy. I hope to see you there!
Three Cheese Ravioli
Ingredients
Pasta Dough:
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- Large pinch of salt
- Water as needed if dough is too dry
Filling:
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon freshly torn basil or 2 teaspoons prepared basil - like Gourmet Gardens
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
Pasta:
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Add flour, salt, and eggs to a food processor. Pulse until dough forms. Separate dough into 6 pieces. Place dough on a plate, cover with a kitchen towel, and leave in a cool place for 30 minutes.
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Run each piece of dough through a pasta roller. Reduce the roller setting (to make the dough thinner) after each pass, until you get to the final setting. {If you don't have a pasta roller, you can roll the dough by hand. Roll it until it's really really thin. If you think it's thin enough, keep rolling, it's probably not. I learned the hard way.}
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Drape dough over a clothes rack of something similar {I hung my pasta over the top of my kitchen cabinets} for 10 minutes.
Filling & Assembly:
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season water with salt.
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In a large bowl, mix together cheeses, basil, oregano, and pepper until well combined.
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Using a 2" or 3" round cutter, cut out circles from your rolled pasta dough. Place 1/2 tablespoon filling in the center of half of the pasta circles if using a 2" cutter. (The recipe says to use 2 teaspoons filling for a 3" pasta round.)
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Using your finger, rub some water round the edge of the pasta circle with filling until it's well moistened. Top each filled circle with a second pasta circle. Carefully press down, sealing the edges, and removing any air from around the pasta filling. {I went back and pressed any extra air out after I closed all the ravioli.}
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Take a fork and gently press down around the entire edge of the ravioli with the fork tines. {This isn't part of the original recipe, but I was paranoid the filling would try to get out.}
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Gently drop pasta into water and cook for 3 minutes. Pasta will sink and then float when ready. Give the pasta a little stir while it's cooking to make sure it doesn't stick.
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Drain the ravioli. Serve with your favorite sauce and a little extra Parmesan cheese on top!
Recipe Notes
Pasta will store in the fridge for 2 days.
See all of this month’s Pass the Cookbook Club recipes below.
