Ravioli Food

PASTA DOUGH FOR RAVIOLI

Steps:

• To make the pasta dough: In an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook*, combine the flour and salt. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to mix. Drizzle in 1 tablespoons of the olive oil and continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Sprinkle some flour on work surface, knead and fold the dough until elastic and smooth, this should take about 10 minutes. Brush the surface with the remaining olive oil and wrap the dough in plastic wrap; let rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
• *Alternatively if you don't have an electric mixer: Combine the flour and salt on a flat work surface; shape into a mound and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the well and lightly beat with a fork. Gradually draw in the flour from the inside wall of the well in a circular motion. Use 1 hand for mixing and the other to protect the outer wall. Continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Continue as directed above.
• Cut the ball of dough in 1/2, cover and reserve the piece you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with a little flour. Press the dough into a rectangle and roll it through a pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at widest setting. Pull and stretch the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue tightening until the machine is at the narrowest setting; the dough should be paper-thin, about 1/8-inch thick (you should be able to see your hand through it.). Dust the sheets of dough with flour as needed.
• Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water to make an egg wash. Dust the counter and sheet of dough with flour, lay out the long sheet of pasta, and brush the top surface with the egg wash, which acts as a glue. Drop tablespoons of your favorite filling on 1/2 of the pasta sheet, about 2-inches apart. Fold the other 1/2 over the filling like a blanket. With an espresso cup or fingers, gently press out air pockets around each mound of filling. Use a sharp knife to cut each pillow into squares and crimp the 4 edges with the tins of a fork to make a tight seal. Dust the ravioli and a sheet pan with cornmeal to prevent the pasta from sticking and lay them out to dry slightly while assembling the rest.
• Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling salted water for 4 minutes; they'll float to the top when ready, so be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Lift the ravioli from water with a large strainer or slotted spoon. Bath the ravioli in your favorite sauce to lightly coat and serve.

RAVIOLI (DOUGH AND CHOICE OF 4 FILLINGS)

Steps:

• MAKING THE FILLING: Ricotta Filling#1: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Ricotta Filling#2: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Beef and Spinach Filling: Brown beef and veal in butter with the whole clove of garlic.
• Remove garlic and let meat mixture cool.
• Mix spinach, parsley, eggs, cheese and nutmeg into cooled meat until well blended, set aside filling until needed.
• Sausage Filling: Brown sausage in frying pan, drain fat and allow sausage to cool.
• When sausage has cooled, mix in eggs and cheese, set aside filling until needed.
• MAKING THE RAVIOLI DOUGH: Sift flour and salt together.
• Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
• Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.
• Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
• Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).
• FILLING THE RAVIOLI: Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
• When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.
• Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
• Cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.
• DRYING THE RAVIOLI: Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
• COOKING THE RAVIOLI: Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.
• Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.
• Place drained ravioli on a serving platter in layers, alternating layers with your favorite sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese between each ravioli layer.
• Serve hot.

RAVIOLO AL' UOVO

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, Parm, parsley and 2 whole eggs; mix well and season with salt.
• Dust a clean work surface lightly with all-purpose flour and lay out two sheets of pasta about 12 inches long; brush them lightly with water. Equally space 4 dollops of the ricotta mixture on each pasta sheet; then use a spoon to make a "nest" or small hole in the center of each dollop. Carefully separate the remaining eggs (reserve the whites for another purpose) and put a yolk in each ricotta "nest"--the ricotta should lovingly nestle each yolk (if a yolk breaks, scoop it out with a spoon and don't use it).
• Cover the ricotta nests and egg yolk with another sheet of pasta. Use your index fingers to press around each ricotta nest to seal the edges, then use a fluted ring cutter or dough roller to cut around each ravioli (they should be 3 to 4 inches in diameter). Reserve the ravioli on a tray generously dusted with semolina.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. In a large saute pan, melt half the butter and add half of the chicken stock (you're going to use the remainder for your next batch); season with salt and toss in half the sage. Bring this to a boil (BTB) and reduce to simmer (RTS).
• Add 4 of the ravioli to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Using a spider or slotted spoon, carefully transfer the ravioli from the water to the pan with butter and chicken stock and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. If the sauce reduces too much, add a few drops of the pasta cooking water. The sauce should cling to the ravioli in a buttery hug.
• Transfer the ravioli to serving plates, spoon a little extra sauce over each one, and finish with a sprinkey-dink of grated Parm. Repeat with the remaining ravioli.
• Mound the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a big hole (called a well) in the center of the flour pile--bigger is definitely better here. Crack the eggs into the hole along with the extra yolk, olive oil, and 2 tablespoons water; season with salt. Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, water, and salt and begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture. Be careful not to break the well or the egg mixture will run everywhere and you'll have a big fat mess on your hands (and your board). When enough flour is incorporated that you can handle the dough, use your hands to combine everything really well. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands a bit. When the mixture is homogeneous, start kneading...
• To knead the dough, it's VERY important to put your body weight into it, to get on top of the dough, and really stretch it. Be careful not to tear it--the idea is that you stretch the dough, not rip it. Use the heels of your palms and roll the mixture over itself. When it's done it should be smooth, supple, and velvety and look like the head of a preemie Cabbage Patch Doll. Kneading will take anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on how experienced you are. (Don't hold back: This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and work it!)
• When the pasta is ready, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least an hour at room temperature before rolling. If you're making the dough ahead of time, wrap, refrigerate, and bring to room temperature before using.
• To roll out the pasta, you need to run the dough through the pasta roller a bunch of times to get it long and thin. To start, cut off about a quarter of the dough (remember, the bigger the piece you start with, the longer your dough is going to get), keeping the rest wrapped up so it doesn't dry out. Squish the dough to flatten it--this will help it run through the pasta roller more easily. Where do we start? We start at the beginning! Run the dough through the pasta roller starting on the widest setting, number 1. Then dust the dough with flour, fold it into thirds, and put the dough through this setting two more times. If the dough ever feels sticky or tacky, give it a little dusting of flour. Now adjust the setting to number 2 and repeat the process again--changing the setting each time until your dough is the desired thickness. Once the dough is rolled out, be sure to keep the pasta sheets covered so they don't dry out. Depending on what I want to use the pasta for, I usually stop around number 5 or 6. For long noodles, I keep it thicker, and for ravioli or stuffed pasta, I keep it thinner. All pasta machines are different, so you need to judge how your pasta machine works and adjust your rolling accordingly. Once you get the thickness you want, repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough.

WEEKNIGHT RAVIOLI LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Coat a 9-inch square baking dish and a sheet of foil with non-stick spray.
• Put pasta sauce in bowl; stir in 1/2 cup water.
• Spread 1 cup sauce in dish.
• Top with 20 ravioli, flat sides up and just touching each other.
• Spread with 3/4 cup sauce; sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese.
• REPEAT layers once.
• Top with remaining ravioli, sauce and cheese.
• (you should have 3 layers) Cover tightly with foil sprayed side down or use Release foil.
• Bake on a sheet of foil (to catch any drips) 1 hour or until bubbly around edges.
• Uncover and bake 5 minutes until cheese is barely golden.
• To Freeze: Place in rigid container and freeze.
• To Heat: Microwave on medium power until heated through.
• Note: More sauce maybe needed when reheating.

RAVIOLI DOUGH

Steps:

• Place the flour on a dry, clean work surface, forming a mound about 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) in diameter at its base. Sprinkle the salt in the middle of the mound. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, create a well 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) wide, with at least 1/2 inch (12 mm) of flour on the bottom of the well.
• Slowly and carefully add the whole eggs, egg yolks and olive oil to the well, treating the flour as a bowl. Using a fork, gently beat the eggs without touching the flour walls or scraping through the bottom to the work surface.
• Then, still stirring, slowly begin to incorporate the flour "walls" into the egg mixture, gradually working your way toward the outer edges of the flour, but disturbing the base as little as possible. If the eggs breach the sides too soon, quickly scoop them back in and reform the wall. Once the dough starts to take on a thickened, paste-like quality (slurry), slowly incorporate the flour on the bottom into the mixture.
• When the slurry starts to move as a solid mass, remove as much as possible from the fork. Slide a pastry scraper or spatula under the mass of dough and flip it and turn it onto itself to clear any wet dough from the work surface. At this point, with your hands, start folding and forming the dough into a single mass. The goal is to incorporate all the flour into the mass, and using a spray bottle to liberally spritz the dough with water is essential. It is a very dry dough, and it is very important to generously and constantly spritz it with water to help "glue" any loose flour to the dry dough ball.
• When the dough forms a stiff, solid mass, scrape away any dried clumps of flour from the work surface, which, if incorporated in the dough, will create dry spots in the final product.
• To knead the dough, on your work surface, drive the heel of your dominant hand into the dough. Push down and release, and then use your other hand to pick up and rotate the dough on itself 45 degrees. Drive the heel of your hand back in the dough, rotate and repeat for 10 to 15 minutes. When the dough is ready, it will stop changing appearance and texture. The dough will be firm but bouncy to the touch and have a smooth, silky surface, almost like Play-Doh. Tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap before proceeding as directed with your recipe. Makes about 20 oz. (625 g) of dough.

HOMEMADE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Place 5 cups flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Beat the eggs, water and oil; pour into well. Stir together, forming a ball. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes, adding remaining flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes., Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally., In a large bowl, combine filling ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use., Divide pasta dough into fourths; roll 1 portion to 1/16-in. thickness. (Keep pasta covered until ready to use.) Working quickly, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling 1 in. apart over half of pasta sheet. Fold sheet over; press down to seal. Cut into squares with a pastry wheel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling., Bring a soup kettle of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer; cook until ravioli float to the top and are tender, 1-2 minutes. Drain. Spoon sauce over ravioli.

FRESH PASTA DOUGH FOR RAVIOLI

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine flour, 2 eggs, and salt. Cover and process until well mixed. If necessary, with processor running, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water through feed tube until mixture forms a dough. Remove dough and shape into a ball.* On a lightly floured surface, knead dough about 1 minute or until smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.
• Divide dough into four portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 12-inch square. (If using a pasta machine, pass each portion through machine according to the manufacturer's directions until dough is 1/16 inch thick.)
• To shape ravioli, in a small bowl, combine 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water; set aside. Cut rolled dough into 2-inch-wide strips. Brush strips lightly with egg mixture. Leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges, place about 1 teaspoon of filling at 1-inch intervals on one strip of dough. Lay a second strip of dough, brushed side down, over the first. Using your fingers, press the dough around each mound of filling so that the two moistened strips stick together. Cut dough between filling to make individual ravioli. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• To cook ravioli, boil a large pot of salted water. Gently drop about one-fourth of the ravioli, one at a time, into the boiling water and stir to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Simmer gently for 3 to 4 minutes or until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer ravioli to a serving dish.

HOMEMADE FOUR CHEESE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Mound the flour and salt together on a work surface and form a well. Beat the teaspoon of olive oil, 2 eggs, and water in a bowl. Pour half the egg mixture into the well. Begin mixing the egg with the flour with one hand; use your other hand to keep the flour mound steady. Add the remaining egg mixture and knead to form a dough.
• Knead the dough until smooth, 8 to 10 minutes; add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Form the dough into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• While the dough is resting, prepare the ravioli filling. Combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese, egg, and parsley and mix well. Set the filling aside.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic and pesto sauce and cook for one minute. Pour in the heavy cream, raise the heat to high, and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese and stir until the cheese melts. Remove the pan from the heat and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, warm the marinara sauce over medium-low heat.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Beat the egg with the tablespoon of water to make the egg wash.
• Roll out the pasta dough into thin sheets no thicker than a nickel. To assemble the ravioli, brush the egg wash over a sheet of pasta. Drop the filling mixture on the dough by teaspoonfuls about one inch apart. Cover the filling with the top sheet of pasta, pressing out the air from around each portion of filling. Press firmly around the filling to seal. Cut into individual ravioli with a knife or pizza cutter. Seal the edges.
• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Stir in the ravioli, and return to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the ravioli float to the top and the filling is hot, 4 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
• Grease a baking sheet. Place the cooked ravioli on the sheet pan and bake in the preheated oven until brown, about 4 minutes.
• To serve the ravioli, divide them among four warmed serving bowls. Drizzle the marinara sauce over the ravioli and then top with the cream sauce.

BAKED RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.
• Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

RAVIOLI "LASAGNA"

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Coat a 13-by-9 inch baking dish with cooking spray and spoon in a third of the sauce.
• Arrange 12 ravioli on top and scatter the spinach over them.
• Top with half of each cheese.
• Cover with another layer of ravioli and the remaining sauce and cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.
• Uncover and bake 5 to 10 minutes more or until bubbly.

RAVIOLI DOUGH

Steps:

• In an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add eggs 1 at a time and continue to mix. Drizzle in oil and continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Sprinkle some flour on work surface, knead the dough until elastic and smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
• Cut the ball of dough in half, cover and reserve the dough you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with flour. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it through the pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at its widest setting. Guide the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. *Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue until the machine is at its narrowest setting. The dough should be paper-thin, about 1/8-inch thick.
• Dust the counter and dough with flour, lay out the long sheet of pasta. Brush the top surface of dough with egg wash. Drop 1 tablespoon of cooled filling about 2-inches apart on half the sheet of pasta. Fold the unfilled half over the filling. With an espresso cup or fingers, gently press out air pockets around each mound of filling and form a seal. Use a crimper to cut each pillow into squares. Check to make sure the crimped edges are well sealed before cooking. If making ravioli in advance, dust with cornmeal to prevent them from sticking.
• Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling salted water for 10 to15 minutes. Ravioli will float to the top when cooked so be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Lift the ravioli from water with a large strainer or slotted spoon. Plate the pasta, top with sauce and grated cheese before serving. Garnish plate with chopped herbs and toasted pine nuts.
• *For Herb-Patterned Pasta: Follow the standard recipe given above and roll it out to a medium-thick sheet. Next, take well-washed leafy herbs such as, basil, flat-leaf parsley and tarragon, pinch away the stems so only the leaves remain. Hand press the fresh herbs on the dough's surface at 1-inch intervals. Fold the dough over itself and run the "sandwich" through the pasta machine at a thin setting. The leaves will stretch and pattern the pasta. Continue making ravioli as indicated in the procedure.

RAVIOLI

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the Meatloaf, balsamic vinegar, Parmesan, and oregano, mix well, and set aside
• Using the Fresh Pasta recipe, roll out your dough either by hand or by machine.
• After you have rolled the pasta out into sheets, cut the sheet into an even amount of squares. Using a teaspoon fill the center of half with the filling. Brush around the filling with the egg wash and place the remaining squares on top. Press down around the seal to push out any air bubbles.
• In half a gallon of rapidly boiling salted water add the ravioli in batches. Remove to a strainer.
• In a separate pan over medium heat place the butter until it just starts to brown. Toss in 10 ravioli until coated. Sprinkle in the sage and toss again to evenly distribute.
• In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.
• By Hand:
• On a clean surface make a well with the flour. In a measuring cup mix the eggs, water and oil and salt. Pour the wet mixture slowly into the flour and mix with your 2 fingers until all of the wet is incorporated. Do not force the dough to take all of the flour. If you are going to use a pasta machine to roll out the dough you may at this point form the dough into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to rest. If you going to roll this by hand you should knead the dough on a floured work surface for 8 to 10 minutes.
• By Food Processor:
• In the bowl of your food processor combine the flour and salt and pulse 2 to 3 times. In a liquid measuring cup whisk the eggs, water and oil. While pulsing the machine pour this mixture in a continuous stream and continue running the machine until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Follow directions above for hand rolling or machine.

HOMEMADE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• To make the pasta, put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and egg yolks and mix with a fork, bringing more of the flour in from the sides as you mix. Once the mixture comes together into a ball, tip it out onto a work surface and knead for 10-15 mins until firm and smooth. Wrap and leave to rest for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the spinach with a few tablespoons of water, and cook until the spinach has wilted and is dark green and the water has evaporated. Stir in the lemon zest, grate over some nutmeg and season. Tip the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool.
• Cut the pasta dough into four pieces so it's easier to work with. Run one piece through a pasta machine (leaving the remaining pieces covered to prevent them drying out), starting with the widest setting and working down to the thinnest setting. Keep the machine and the pasta well floured to prevent sticking or tearing.
• Mix the ricotta into the spinach mixture and season well. Do this just before you're ready to fill the pasta, or chill until needed.
• To make the ravioli, cut a sheet of pasta in half so you have two equal lengths. Lay out on a well-floured work surface, then spoon heaped teaspoons of the filling, spaced 5cm apart, over one of the pasta sheets. Brush the exposed pasta around the filling with water. Gently lift the second pasta sheet over the fillings, and use the side of your hand to press the pasta sheets together around the fillings to seal, ensuring there are no air bubbles.
• Stamp out the ravioli using a round cutter (position it so the filling is in the centre of the circle), or use a sharp knife to cut out square ravioli. Arrange in a single layer over baking trays dusted with flour, then repeat the process with the remaining pasta dough pieces. Will keep, covered and chilled, for up to two days.
• To cook, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and gently lower in the ravioli using a slotted spoon. Boil for 2-3 mins until the pasta is cooked through, then remove to a bowl using a slotted spoon. (You may need to cook the ravioli in batches to ensure it's evenly cooked.)
• Heat the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, drop in the sage and fry until the butter turns a nutty brown and the sage leaves are crisp. Remove from the heat and toss in the ravioli. Sprinkle with parmesan and some lemon juice, then season with cracked black pepper and toss gently in the butter to coat. Divide between warm bowls and sprinkle with more parmesan before serving.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Combine the flour and salt on a flat work surface; shape into a mound and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the well and lightly beat with a fork. Gradually draw in the flour from the inside wall of the well in a circular motion. Continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.
• While the pasta is resting, prepare the filling. Steam the spinach and drain well, pressing the spinach to remove all excess liquid. Chop finely. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add shallots and cook for about a minute, stirring so that they do not brown. Add the shallots to the spinach, along with the ricotta, Parmesan cheese and egg. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt, pepper as needed.
• Cut the ball of dough in 1/2, cover and reserve the piece you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with a little flour. Press the dough into a rectangle and roll it through a pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at widest setting. Pull and stretch the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue tightening until the machine is at the second narrowest setting; the dough should be almost paper-thin.
• Dust the counter and sheet of dough with flour, lay out the long sheet of pasta, and brush the top surface with a little water, which acts as a glue. Drop 1 tablespoon of the filling on 1/2 of the pasta sheet, about 2-inches apart. Fold the other 1/2 over the filling like a blanket. With your fingers, gently press out air pockets around each mound of filling. Use a sharp knife to cut each pillow into squares and crimp the 4 edges with the tins of a fork to make a tight seal. A fluted pastry wheel also works well to make an attractive edge around the pasta. Dust the ravioli and a sheet pan with cornmeal to prevent the pasta from sticking and lay them out to dry slightly while assembling the rest. If not using within an hour or two refrigerate until needed.
• To prepare the sauce, heat the two tablespoons of oil in a heavy pot and cook the garlic for just a minute. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes and cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes. Add the chopped basil, and mix well. Cook over low heat an additional 10 minutes. Keep warm while you cook the pasta.
• Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling salted water until tender. They will float to the top when ready, so be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Drain the ravioli and return to the pot. Pour half of the sauce mixture into the pot and carefully stir until the ravioli is lightly coated. Serve the ravioli with a spoonful of additional sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese. Serve hot.

RICOTTA-FILLED RAVIOLI (RAVIOLI DI RICOTTA)

Steps:

• To make the ravioli filling:
• 1. In a large bowl combine the ricotta, nutmeg, lemon zest, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 1 egg. Season to taste with salt and pepper, stir well, and set aside.
• To make the ravioli dough:
• 1. Mound the flour on a clean work surface and create a well in the center. Place the eggs, egg yolks, and oil (if using) in the center. Using a fork, whisk the eggs and oil together and slowly start dragging the flour into the egg mixture. Knead by hand until all the ingredients are well combined and the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (Alternatively, place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the mixer on medium speed, knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.) Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place it in a covered bowl and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
• 2. Set up a pasta machine and turn it to the largest opening. Cut off pieces of dough about the size of an egg. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into sheets about 1/8-inch thick.
• 3. Lay 1 pasta sheet flat on a lightly floured work surface and determine approximately where the halfway point is lengthwise. Use a pastry brush to lightly wet one half of the dough with the remaining egg lightly beaten with water. Spoon mounds of the filling, about 2 teaspoons each, onto half of the wet side of the dough, leaving about a 1/2 inch between the mounds. Fold the dry half of the sheet over lengthwise to cover the filling. Press the pasta sheets together to seal the edges around the filling, and press out any excess air. Use a pastry cutter or knife to cut individual ravioli. As you cut out the ravioli, place them on a plate or baking sheet sprinkled with flour to keep them from sticking. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling.
• 4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli all at once and stir a few times to submerge and separate them. Cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil until the pasta is just tender to the bite, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the ravioli thoroughly and serve with a desired sauce or cheese.