Homemade Pasta
2 1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1-2 t olive oil
3-4 eggs
Whatever filling you like.
(I used a chicken, artichoke, smoked Gouda for this one!)
This is s guesstimate of what I used;
Leftover grilled chicken - about 3/4 cup
Canned or jarred artichoke hearts - 3/4 cup hearts
Shredded smoked Gouda - 1/2 c
Cream Cheese - 1 - 2 oz
Egg - 1
Garlic - about 1-2 teaspoons
salt and pepper to taste
I put the filling ingredients through the processor and pulsed a few times to mix.
Dough: In a food processor bowl, place the salt and flour. Put the top on and while pulsing or running on low, add a teaspoon or two of oil and start adding eggs. You probably only need 3 eggs so start with that. Process until the dough forms a ball shape. This happens fairly quickly within a few pulses. If it hasn't gathered itself in a ball by the 3rd egg, you can add another teaspoon of oil or water or use a 4th egg. Water or additional flour by the teaspoon will give you the texture you need for it to be a ball.
Let it rest 10 minutes. Divide into pieces - about 4 if you are using a roller or just in half if you are rolling by hand; Then either roll very, very thin with a rolling pin or use a pasta machine. I use a manual, hand crank pasta machine and starting with number 1, I run it through to a number 4. The first thin, rectangle shape is laid over the base of the ravioli mold. You can use the white plastic mold to lay on top of the dough which quickly and easily presses the dough gently through the metal to form small rounds for filling. Put about 2 teaspoons or more of your filling of choice into the indentations. If you are making by hand, you simply place the fillings about 2 inches apart, in rows, on your first layer of dough. The second run through the pasta machine is for the top layer. Repeat as you did with the bottom, except lay it over the top of the fillings. If you are making by hand, lay the second layer of dough over all. Now you can easily see where your mounds are. Use your finger to gentle press and seal the dough around each mount. Just use a butter knife or a pizza cutter to cut your dough into squares around the filling mounds. If you are using the ravioli mold, run a rolling pin over the top to seal (see photo below). Remove the excess dough,flip over and press each ravioli out.
You can let them set a few hours, you can use them right away or you can put them on a baking sheet, freeze them solid and then move them to a container or ziploc baggy to use later. To prepare, just put them into boiling water and boil until tender, then drain and serve with your favorite sauce.
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| Letting the dough rest about 10 minutes |
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| You can make a filling while it rests. Just some cheese and spinach or whatever you want |
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| Today's filling was Grilled Chicken, Artichoke & Smoked Gouda |
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| Roll a rolling pin over to seal and cut in one step |
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| Ready to pop out |
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| Pushing out the ravioli's |
