Raviolis are a typical Italian pasta dish, which are super easy to prepare. The pasta dough is cut into two-layered squares, filled with any goodness you like. Usually it either comes with finely minced meat, cheese or veggies. I make the dough with egg yolk only, which gives it a smooth texture!
This dish is not only an eye-catcher when inviting friends (hopefully soon after this lockdown) but a definite party-crasher if you are planning on a crazy night home alone or with the people you are currently housing!
Recipe serves 2 people
For the Pasta Dough:
- 200 g Tipo 00 Flour (W480 in Austria and W405 in Germany) plus extra for dusting
- 40 g Semolina
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 6 Egg Yolks (you can freeze the egg white and use it at some point for my all time favourite Pavlova recipe)
- Any herbs for placing them inbetween the pasta sheets. I used sage and thyme.
For the Filling:
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Garlic Gloves (finely minced)
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 250 g Ricotta
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Method for Making the Dough
- Place the flour and semolina on a clean surface and make a well in the middle.
- Add the egg yolks and the olive oil into the well and use a fork to mix egg yolk and olive oil first before gradually adding the flour mixture from the sides. Half way through you can start using your hands to mix everything together.
- Add 1 tbsp of cold water if the dough is very dry but in general we want to keep the dough rather dry than wet.
- Let the dough rest for 30 minutes in a transparent film so that the dough does not dry out.
Method for Making the Filling:
- Use a sauce pan and heat the olive oil at medium heat.
- Add the minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds before adding the tomato paste.
- When everything is well mixed, add the ricotta and remove the pan from the heat.
- Season with salt and pepper.
Assembling Everything Together to Make the Raviolis
- You can either use a pasta mashine to rolle out the dough (I went up to stage 4 to have thin sheets) or a rolling pin.
- When all pasta sheets are ready, dust a clean surface and place one sheet on it. Add some herbs and arrange them as you wish. Place the second pasta sheet on top and press the sheets agains each other. In order to assure that the sheets stick together you can use the rolling pin or the pasta mashine once again to flatten it out.
- Place the pasta sheet on a dusted surface and add 1 tbsp of filling on the first 1/3 of the sheet (see 1st photo below).
- Use some cold water, add some on your forefinger and draw boxes around the filling so that, when flipping the other side over, the water can act as a glue to hold the sheets together (see 2nd photo below). Make sure that the filling does not contain any air and that the sheets stick well together before cutting the raviolis into single pieces.
- Heat a large pot with water, add some salt and place the raviolis inside. Lower the heat and let them simmer for around 3-4 minutes. If you prefer to eat them at some other point, you can also dust them with more flour, place them in the fridge and keep them for at least 4 days fresh.
- If you prefer to eat them now you can top the raviolis with any sauce you like. I love mine with melted butter, some crispy sage and thyme (which I added into the butter while it was melting, making them nice and crispy!) and parmesan cheese on top!
