Nothing beats fresh pasta - take it up a notch with homemade spinach and cheese ravioli made from scratch! The steps are easy.
Are you looking to incorporate more homemade "ingredients" or recipe components into your kitchen? Pasta is a great early step in your journey. It does take a bit of time and practice, but the taste can't be beat, and it's all simple ingredients.
You can either use a rolling pin and knives, or invest in a pasta machine. You can even find attachments for the Kitchenaid if that's what you have. Plus you'll find lots of excuses to use it, such as Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles! Homemade Noodles are a great first step because you truly don't need the special equipment.
Serve these with butter and fresh Parmesan, whip up a quick Alfredo, try a drizzle of olive oil, or make our favourite Tomato Bacon Pasta Sauce to go on top.
Key Ingredients
Flour - All-purpose is great for this as it'll taste most like store-bought when you are transitioning the family to homemade foods.
Eggs - Nothing beats a classic egg noodle. This is the perfect recipe when your backyard eggs are in abundance.
Cheese - Make your own (I promise it's easy!) or pick it up from the store. We'll use ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan.
Baby Spinach - A great way to sort of sneak in veggies. It doesn't get a lot into the kids but it's finely chopped and mixed with cheese so they won't say no.
How to Make Ravioli From Scratch
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Add eggs to flour.
Step 2: Knead it up into a quick dough.
Step 3: Divide into 8 equal pieces.
Step 4: Begin feeding one piece through the pasta machine.
Step 5: Get it thin and split in half.
Step 6: Put each one through until you have the thinnest setting.
Step 7: Mix up filling in a bowl.
Step 8: Add 6 dollops of filling, evenly spaced. Brush with water.
Step 9: Add second dough sheet and gently press.
Step 10: Cut apart and set aside for cooking.
FAQs
You don't - you will just need lots of patience! A rolling pin can certainly do the job, but it will take some skill. You still want to get the dough as thin as possible, so you might roll it out on parchment paper so you aren't using too much flour on the dough. Definitely cut the dough into 16 equal pieces so you are making a single strip from each one.
You don't want things to dry out, and this is a time intensive recipe. After dividing the dough into eight pieces, wrap 7 of them in plastic wrap, or a fairly damp tea towel. Keep an eye on it and re-wet the towel partway through if necessary. If it dries out it won't be pliable and won't neatly go through the rollers.
Sometimes it will depend on how wet the dough is, how evenly you split the dough, and how thin you roll it out. I aim to get about 6 ravioli from each of the 8 sections, making 48 pieces. This is a great meal for 8 then, especially if you add salad and maybe a protein on the side. The kids would eat a lot more if it's all I gave them!
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
More Pasta Recipes
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Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli
Ingredients
Ravioli Dough:
- 4 cups organic all-purpose flour or pasta (00) flour
- 6 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 ½ cups full fat ricotta cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place flour in the center of a large cutting board. Form a well in the center.
- Crack eggs into the well. Add salt and olive oil. Mix together carefully with a fork.
- Continue using fork, then switch to your hands to get everything incorporated.
- Knead dough for 10 minutes or so, until dough is pliable and elastic, forming into a ball.
- Cover dough with plastic or a damp tea towel and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
- Finely chop the spinach and add all filling ingredients to a bowl. Mix well - I like using my Danish dough whisk here.
- Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and wrap 7 in plastic or a damp tea towel.
- With your first piece of dough, form into a rough oval shape with your hands and then roll out to half an inch with rolling pin.
- With dough machine, set to widest roller setting and feed the dough through slowly, catching it as it is fed through. Set to next narrower setting and feed through. Continue until about 16 inches long. Place dough back on cutting board and carefully cut in half long ways with a sharp knife.
- Feed each half into the dough machine with the next thinner levels, until dough is thin enough to see outlines of your hand through it. On my dough machine, the level went from 8 (widest) to 2 (thinnest). It might be reversed on your machine.
- If you don’t have a pasta machine, roll with rolling pin using the same directions, to the same thinness.
- Cut any excess, pointed dough from tips off so you have a neat rectangle.
- On one half, place on cutting board and place about a teaspoon of filling, spacing one inch apart, until half is filled (about 6-7 teaspoons for the sheet).
- With a pastry brush or finger, dip into a bowl of water and brush around the filling without touching the filling.
- Taking the other half of the dough, gently place on top of the filling half and form the dough around each filling blob, trying to keep air bubbles out and gently sealing around each one.
- Using a ravioli cutter or sharp knife, slice the raviolis into squares.
- Lightly oiling baking sheets, place raviolis onto sheet with a bit of space between them so they don't stick.
- Boil a large pot of salted water when ready to cook.
- Add a dozen or so ravioli at a time so as to not overcrowd and cook for 5-7 minutes.
- Scoop into a colander to drain well. Add to a large pot or bowl with a lid and a bit of oil while you cook the remaining ravioli.
- Have your sauce or topping ready and serve on dishes and top while hot.
Notes
- A pasta machine is not required here! You can absolutely work this with a rolling pin.
- Use all homemade cheeses for the ultimate in comfort food.
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