I have had a pretty strong hankering to make home-made pasta for a long time, and ravioli seemed like the way to go because that meant i got to create the filling as well, AND it meant i got to stuff these puppies as full as i wanted with cheesy goodness! I find that there is rarely enough filling in ravioli.
So, making Pasta, as it tuns out, it not all that difficult. It takes a bit of time and muscle but it's not very complicated.
Start with Semolina Flour which is pretty much available any where, and from there you pretty much just follow the directions on the package. It's basically just eggs, olive oil, and water.
mix your flour and salt, and make a little well, put the wet ingredients in the middle and slowly incorporate the flour in little by little. Then the kneading begins....you knead the dough for about 10 minutes, and then roll it out very thin. I was convinced after i was done with this step that elderly Italian women must have extremely strong arms.
i used a glass to cut out circles, but using a knife to cut the dough into squares would be lovely as well.
For my filling i used the following:
12oz of part skim Ricotta cheese
1C freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/3 C chopped chives
the zest of about half a lemon
and Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Typically when doing a filling like this for manicotti or lasagna i would use basil and/or italian parsley, but the chives really made the whole dish, and i would definitely do it this way again.
Spoon filling on to the pasta, and then brush the edges with beaten egg.
Cover with another past round and seal the edges with a fork.
Cook the Ravioli in Boiling Salted water, and keep in mind that fresh pasta cooks much more quickly than dried.
I topped mine with a simple tomato sauce (found here) , shaved Parmesan, and some fresh Basil.
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