Homemade Ravioli

I admit - this dish is a little crazy, but it's also a bit of culinary magic. If you use the two linked recipes to make tomato sauce and fresh ricotta cheese yourself, then you will turn two pounds of tomatoes, a half gallon of milk, and a small mound of flour and eggs into homemade ravioli stuffed with fresh ricotta cheese and topped with some of the best tomato sauce you've ever had. Extra bonus points if you grow the tomatoes, chickens, or wheat yourself.

This is a half-day project but is well worth the effort.

Pasta

Prep: 2 hours
Cook: 30 min
Total: 2 hours 30 min
Serves 4

Sauce
Prepare desired tomato sauce. While cooking, prepare pasta and ricotta stuffing.
Ricotta Herb Stuffing
1 ½ cups fresh ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
½ cup finely minced parsley
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Combine ricotta, parmesan, parsley, egg yolk, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside or refrigerator for later.
Homemade Pasta
284g / 10 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
Measure flour into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Briefly pulse the flour to evenly distribute. (If possible, use a kitchen scale to weight flour rather than using a cup measure as you'll get much more consistent results.)
3 large eggs, beaten
Add the eggs and process in food processor until the dough forms a rough ball, about 30 seconds.
additional water or flour, as needed
If the dough resembles small pebbles, add water, ½ teaspoon of water at a time. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl, add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and process until the dough forms a rough ball.
Turn the dough ball and small bits out onto a dry work surface; knead until the dough is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours to relax.
Cut the dough into six equal pieces. Taking one piece at a time, roll it out using one of the following techniques:
Using a Pasta Maker
Flatten a single piece of dough into a ball. Run it through the widest setting of a pasta rolling machine. Fold both ends of the rolled dough into the middle and press to seal. Run it through the roller again. Fold in sides once more and run through roller, for a total of three times.
Decrease the setting on the pasta machine to make the rollers one step narrower. Run the flattened sheet through. Repeat until the dough has gone through the narrowest setting.
Using a Rolling Pin
Flatten a single piece of dough into a ball. Roll it out slightly with a rolling pin. Fold both ends of the rolled dough into the middle and press to seal. Roll out slightly with a rolling pin. Fold in sides once more and roll out with rolling pin, for a total of three times.
Roll out dough with your rolling pin until it is paper thin and measures about 6 inches wide and between 8 and 14 inches long, depending on how much dough you have and how thin you can get it.
Assembly
reserved ricotta-herb stuffing
As soon as each sheet of pasta is rolled out, place it on a well floured work surface. Place dots (about 1 tablespoon worth each) of the ricotta-herb stuffing mixture on the pasta along the center of the pasta sheet, spacing them about 1 to 2 inches apart.
Fold pasta sheet so that all of the ricotta dots are covered and long edges are touching. Seal edges with your fingers and press down to seal pasta between ricotta stuffing.
Using a pasta cutter or pizza cutter, cut pasta into ravioli pieces. Lightly flour ravioli and place on a clean work surface. Cover with a damp towel. Roll out remaining pasta dough and repeat.
Cooking
4 quarts water
To cook 1 pound of fresh egg pasta, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot.
1 tablespoon salt
Add salt and then pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente, about 5 to 8 minutes.
reserved tomato sauce
Drain pasta in a colander. Serve onto plates and top with tomato sauce. Enjoy!

From MakeBetterFood.com. Sep 28, 2012. (makebetterfood.com/recipes/homemade-ravioli/). Portions adapted from Hazan, Marcella. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. (New York, 1992.) p 210-211.

MakeBetterFood.com

Prepare desired tomato sauce. While cooking, prepare pasta and ricotta stuffing.
Combine ricotta, parmesan, parsley, egg yolk, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside or refrigerator for later.
Measure flour into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Briefly pulse the flour to evenly distribute. (If possible, use a kitchen scale to weight flour rather than using a cup measure as you'll get much more consistent results.)
Add the eggs and process in food processor until the dough forms a rough ball, about 30 seconds.
If the dough resembles small pebbles, add water, ½ teaspoon of water at a time. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl, add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and process until the dough forms a rough ball.
Turn the dough ball and small bits out onto a dry work surface; knead until the dough is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours to relax.
Cut the dough into six equal pieces. Taking one piece at a time, roll it out using one of the following techniques:
Flatten a single piece of dough into a ball. Run it through the widest setting of a pasta rolling machine. Fold both ends of the rolled dough into the middle and press to seal. Run it through the roller again. Fold in sides once more and run through roller, for a total of three times.
Decrease the setting on the pasta machine to make the rollers one step narrower. Run the flattened sheet through. Repeat until the dough has gone through the narrowest setting.
Flatten a single piece of dough into a ball. Roll it out slightly with a rolling pin. Fold both ends of the rolled dough into the middle and press to seal. Roll out slightly with a rolling pin. Fold in sides once more and roll out with rolling pin, for a total of three times.
Roll out dough with your rolling pin until it is paper thin and measures about 6 inches wide and between 8 and 14 inches long, depending on how much dough you have and how thin you can get it.
As soon as each sheet of pasta is rolled out, place it on a well floured work surface. Place dots (about 1 tablespoon worth each) of the ricotta-herb stuffing mixture on the pasta along the center of the pasta sheet, spacing them about 1 to 2 inches apart.
Fold pasta sheet so that all of the ricotta dots are covered and long edges are touching. Seal edges with your fingers and press down to seal pasta between ricotta stuffing.
Using a pasta cutter or pizza cutter, cut pasta into ravioli pieces. Lightly flour ravioli and place on a clean work surface. Cover with a damp towel. Roll out remaining pasta dough and repeat.
To cook 1 pound of fresh egg pasta, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot.
Add salt and then pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Drain pasta in a colander. Serve onto plates and top with tomato sauce. Enjoy!