Teaching young people how to cook always fascinates me because they generally, really don’t have any idea how easy cooking can be. They are always amazed at how delicious, and very different foods taste when they prepare them on there own. For instance, Raviolis.A very common and straight forward kid friendly food. Homemade, it becomes completely different from a frozen bag or even from a fairly expensive fresh gourmet pasta in a more upscale grocer. Like so many foods, pasta when freshly made, is unbelievably different from a dried variety and a ravioli is undeniably much more delicate, light and soft in texture.Incredible versatile because you can fill them with just about type of filling; cheese, pumpkin, meat, fish, with so many interesting combinations and will very little time it makes learning to work with your hands an incredibly rich experience.
Ravioli
(24)- 2 inch square Raviolis
Ingredients
Pasta:
1 Cup Flour
1 Egg
1-2 Tablespoons Water
Semolina Flour for dusting
Olive Oil for the cooking Water
Cheese Filling:
1 Egg Yolk
1/2 cup Italian Cheese Blend (Provolone, Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina)
1 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/8 teaspoon Freshly grated Nutmeg & ground Black Pepper (to Taste)
Instructions
To make the Pasta sheets-
Place the Flour on a clean work-table and make a well in the center.
Crack the Egg in the center of the well and stir the Egg into the Flour with a fork slowly incorporating small amounts of the Flour as you go until a rough dough is formed.
Switch to a pastry scraper and add the water scraping and kneading until the Pasta dough comes together and becomes smooth.
Knead with your hands for about 8 minutes until smoother and it starts to spring back slightly.
Cover and let sit for about 15 minutes.
Using a Pasta machine, roll the dough out on the widest setting folding into thirds after each time. Then, lower the setting and begin rolling the dough out without folding it anymore and until you have reached the smallest setting. The Pasta sheets should be very thin.
Lay the sheets on a long work table trimming the ends so they are even.
Cheese Filling-
Combine all of the ingredients together and set aside until ready to fill your Pasta sheets.
Assembly
Place approximately 1 Tablespoon of the Cheese filling 1 inch apart down one long side of your Pasta sheet, leaving about 3/4 of an inch between each next row of filling.
Fold over the bottom edge of the sheet over the filling and close the filling in. Dot the edges of the Pasta with Water if you need a better seal if the Pasta does stick together by itself. Using your hands, shape around the filled Pasta to form a round shape taking care not to puncture the Pasta sheet. Using a sharp knife or pastry trimmer, cut the rectangles into individual Ravioli’s and lay on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and dusted with Semolina Flour to prevent sticking.
Bring a large pot of Water to a boil and add 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil to it.
Take care to not over crowd the pot when adding the Ravioli’s.
Cook for approximately 5-8 minutes.
Serve with Wilted Greens and Roasted Garlic.
For a variation other than Cheese filling, try this Pumpkin filling:
Pumpkin Filling:
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Shallot
1 cup pureed Pumpkin (Canned or Fresh)
2 Tablespoons Mascarpone
2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated Ginger Root
Combine all of the ingredients together and set aside until ready to fill your Pasta sheets.
For fresh Pumpkin, cut a small Pumpkin in half and seed. Cut 2 inch strips and lay them on a sheet pan. Drizzle with Olive Oil and season with Salt and Pepper.
Roast in a 375° oven for 45min to an hour until tender.
When cool, remove the flesh to a food processor and puree until smooth.
Sauté the minced Shallots in the Butter until translucent. Set aside to cool.