Holy hellooooooo it's been a while - scratch pasta 4 cheese ravioli =)

First of all, this page was in dire need of updating. i guess i can remedy that with a slew of easy recipes. =)

Secondly, I had a craving for ravioli yesterday. I've done ravioli on this blog in the past, but i think i really nailed it (finally). Pasta is super easy to make, but i wasn't sure if i really wanted to put the time/effort into making it. Off to the farmer's market i went. i got even more motivated hopping off the little italy trolley station and moseying over to mona lisa's and buying a tiny container of ricotta.

after coming home, i lightly prowled google for a ravioli recipe and wiped my pasta press clean. gave my pastry wheel a good spin and went to town.

i found a 4 cheese ravioli recipe that i tinkered with and success! i finally made ravioli which didn't explode when boiled.

ALSO NOTE, THIS BLOG DID NOT CONTAIN MY USUAL PHOTOGRAPHIC FINESSE THAT WOULD NORMALLY BE PRESENT BEHIND MY 60MM MACRO LENS. But visuals are still a must, albeit not as pretty...



::gathering my raw materials::

(adapted from a recipe i found on allrecipes.com)

the pasta dough:

1 cup flour

1 egg

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp water

dash of salt

directions:

mix all ingredients together. switch to kneading it on a floured surface. dough will be stretchy. set aside.


the filling:

4 oz ricotta

1 tbsp cream cheese

1 oz crumbled feta

1 oz shredded asiago

1/2 egg

1/2 tsp parsley

dash of garlic

dash of pepper

directions: mix everything in a bowl until all ingredients have come together. set aside.




assembly:


roll out your pasta dough with a rollin pin and set your pasta press (the lasagna/flat side) to the thickest setting. roll a sheet through again and drop the setting a bit thinner. repeat until you end up at the thinnest setting.

lay out your pasta sheet and starting from one end, cut a 2" x 4 " rectangle out of the dough (it doesn't have to be a perfect rectangle, but roughly that size). put a 1/2 tsp dollop of filling on the rectangle, towards the center. make an egg wash (with the other half of the egg you didn't use for the filling, just add a bit of water and beat) and brush on all the edges of the pasta rectangle. fold it over shut on the 3 sides. then get a pastry wheel and flute the 3 edges, thus sealing your pillow shut.



repeat until you run out of dough. if you have leftover filling, add it to your favorite pasta sauce. it adds a nice cheesy element.



cooking:

after you finish each ravioli, put it on a flat surface (i would recommend coating the bottom with some kind of semolina; i made the mistake and didn't do this and some stuck to the sheet).




set water to boil in a 6 quart pot. once water comes to a boil, carefully drop in each ravioli. they cook FAST. they should be done in 5-7 min if not sooner. they will definitely puff up double their size so do not put too many in otherwise you'll end up with an almost overflowing pot (as seen in picture).




once done, use a slotted spoon and arrange on a plate or bowl. top with your favorite sauce and additional cheese. enjoy!