Making ravioli from scratch is somewhat similar to making homemade spaghetti but with a few more steps that are worth it. Ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta is a staple of traditional Italian cuisine. The little pasta pockets are a delight and it is quite easy to make if a little meticulous task.
With this let’s begin!
Ingredients: For the pasta sheets:
- 200 g quality flour
- 2 Eggs
For the stuffing:
- 30 g Grana Padano to grate
- 70 g Cow’s milk ricotta ( * )
- Nutmeg to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 135 g Spinach
- Salt to taste
To help with stuffing
- Semolina to taste
- Water to taste
Instructions:
We start with the pasta.
Whisk the eggs very well in a bowl and leave aside. Have the flour in another bowl and begin pouring the eggs little by little as you mix it in.
Once you have a dough solid enough you need to knead it for a few minutes. It would be ideal if you have a pasta machine that would help you knead very well, but it’s not impossible to do by hand.
You should get a smooth dough by the end. Wrap it in some cling film and leave it to rest.
Now let’s turn to the filling. Heat some olive oil and briefly cook the spinach. Lower the heat, cover with a lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes. Add salt, mix and sieve the excess water. Mash the spinach and leave for a while to cool off.
Mix the ricotta and grana padana together before adding it to the spinach. Season with nutmeg and pepper and mix well.
Filling the ravioli – method 1
After the dough has rested take it out and divide it in two. Flatten the dough as much as you can with a rolling pin. This is where a pasta machine would make this process easier. It is going to take you longer to do it by hand but it is possible.
Make sure to use a surface where you can leave this sheet until you make the next sheet, you can even use a larger cutting board. Cover this flattened sheet with a cling film so it does not dry out.
Do the same with the next piece of dough.
Start putting the filling on one of the sheets leaving some space within each little ball of filling. Use some water to moisten around each filling nugget.
Cover it with the other sheet and press to stick the ravioli together. Cut the pieces of ravioli and presto.
Filling the ravioli – method 2
I usually like to cut the ravioli sheets before filling them out. So I have a bunch of ravioli pieces that get filed each in turn one by one and sitck together with some water on their edges.
I find it easier to get them done and if I still have some leftover dough I use it to make spaghetti.
And that’s it now off to boiling them. Leave them in hot boiling water with some salt for about 5 minutes.
Enjoy!
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