How to Make Homemade Ravioli

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The other day on Twitter and Facebook, I had a little conversation with you all about making homemade ravioli. I asked “would you make raviolis from scratch?” to which many of you responded yes! So, after scouring the internet for the right recipe for pasta dough, I got to work and made some seriously killer ravioli. Yeah, KILLER! These were so delicious, especially considering this was my 1st attempt without any special gadgets or gizmos.

Yeah, that’s right! I made these with no special tools or equipment! {I inherited a ravioli stamp from my Grandma…does that count?}

Some may say I’m crazy for even thinking to attempt making these with no special machine or pasta maker. In an ideal world, I would have all the bells and whistles I need to make these babies with little to no hassle. However, if I don’t have most of the tools, odds are YOU don’t have most of the tools. And if I were to post such a recipe, it would be fun to read but completely impractical to you.

Therefore, I opted for the old school method. One which anyone can do! I promise it’s very do-able. You just need a good chunk of time because it’s time consuming.

Hard? Not really.

Worth it? Totally.

So, here we go:

To get started, you’re going to need some simple basic ingredients: flour, eggs, salt and oil. Easy enough, right? {Just fyi my pasta and filling looks a little on the yellow side because I use farm fresh eggs. Don’t adjust your screens!}

Dump the flour onto a clean work surface like your kitchen counter and make a well in the center.

Crack in your eggs and add the salt and oil too, while you’re at it.

Then using a fork, start beating away! Start in the center by scrambled the eggs and then slowly started taking flour from the sides and incorporating that to make your pasta dough. At first it looks like a big fat mess…

…but then as you keep going it starts to slowly come together and form a dough.

Once you can’t mix with a fork anymore, it’s time to start using your hands. Things at this point were still quite sticky, so I had some flour nearby that I kept sprinkling over top.

So, once it’s not too sticky, it’s time to knead this bad boy until it’s smooth and elastic-like. I still had to sprinkle in the occasional flour, but for the most part it was fine to work with.

This is what mine looked like after 10 minutes.

Wrap up the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 20-30 minutes to rest.

In the mean time, you can make some fillings. Pictured below is an easy parmesan and ricotta filling, but I posted a recipe for a butternut squash filling below as well. Basically, you just throw all your ingredients into a bowl…

…and stir it all together, like so. Seriously one of the easiest fillings ever. Set this aside.

Now, lets move onto the main event! This is a ravioli stamp. It will seal the edges for you and make some adorable little ravioli babies!

To make ravioli, unwrap that dough you just made.

I cut my dough into fourths so it was easier to work with. Do what your little heart desires. I just thought fourths made sense.

Now comes the exciting part. Flour your board, your dough and your rolling pin. Roll your dough into a very thin rectangle. You want the dough as thin as possible. And, you want to keep the dough moving as you roll so it doesn’t stick!

Once you have the dough all rolled out, place dollops of the filling on the dough. The amount and distance between the dollops will vary, depending on how big or small your ravioli stamp is.

Next, fold the top part of the dough over the filling.

And then press the top piece of dough around the filling to get rid of any air pockets. Air pockets aren’t good.

Ok, here’s the fun part! Take your stamp, dip it in a little flour and line it up with your lump of filling.

Now, push down really hard!

And voila! Cute little raviolis!

Place them on a floured baking sheet and continue this process until there is no more dough and/or filling left. At this point, you can put your sheets of ravioli into the freezer for 24 hours and transfer to a freezer bag for a quick meal later in the month.

OR, you can boil some up right away and make a quick garlic cream sauce to go with! Super easy and super delicious! That garlic cream sauce is practically the same sauce from this recipe fyi.

So, there you have it! Hope you all can find the time to try these out one day! They are worth the wait! Happy Wednesday!

More Ravioli Recipes to Try!

• Baked Ravioli
• Baked Alfredo Ravioli Recipe

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How to Make Homemade Ravioli

Learn how to make Homeade Ravioli filled with tender cheese to make pasta night extra special. It's a lot easier than you think it is!

servings 6 servings

Prep Time 1 hr

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 1 hr 10 mins

Ingredients

For the Fresh Pasta Dough-{recipe taken from Kelsey Nixon}

• ▢ 2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 3 eggs
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

For the Cheese Filling-

• ▢ 1 cup ricotta cheese
• ▢ 1/8 pound finely grated parmegianno reggiano cheese
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ salt & pepper to taste

For the Garlic Cream Sauce-

• ▢ cream
• ▢ butter
• ▢ finely minced
• ▢ garlic
• ▢ finely grated parmeggiano reggiano cheese

For Butternut Squash Filling-

• ▢ 1 1/2 pound butternut squash peeled and cubed
• ▢ 2-3 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 1/2 cup chopped onion
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic
• ▢ 2 pinches ground thyme
• ▢ 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ salt & pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Mound the flour on a clean work surface, like a large cutting board or counter. Using a fork, create a well in the middle of the flour with high sides.
• Crack the eggs into the well. Add in salt and oil. Using a fork, beat the eggs and slowly incorporate the flour by pulling it in from the sides of the well. As you continue to pull more flour and mix, the dough will start coming together.
• Using your hands, the fork or a bench scraper, work the dough until it comes together. Add more flour if it is sticky, add a few splashes of water if it is too dry.
• Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes or so.
• While pasta is resting, make the cheese filling by stirring all ingredients together into a bowl. Set aside.
• Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour and set aside.
• Unwrap pasta and cut into four sections. You will work with one section at a time. Wrap the remaining three up in plastic in the mean time. Flour your work surface liberally. Roll out dough with a floured rolling pin, working from the middle and rolling out. Try to get the thinnest and longest piece of dough you can. Keep rotating and turning the dough to prevent sticking. Once your dough is rolled very thin, place a small amounts of the filling {about a teaspoon} onto the dough about 1 1/2-2 inches apart. {Your filling amount and spacing will depend on how large or small your ravioli stamp is! Try your best not to overfill! It might take a few tries to figure out the perfect amount.} Fold the top of the dough over the filling. Press the top piece of dough over and around the filling to remove any air bubbles. Press your ravioli stamp in flour and then press down firmly to cut out raviolis. Place on prepared floured tray. Form the leftover dough into a ball and place in the plastic wrap to rest. Continue this pattern until all the raviolis are filled and cut out.
• At this point you can place your trays of raviolis in the freezer for 24 hours and then transfer to plastic freezer bags for a quick meal.
• To cook, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Drop in your raviolis and stir gently. Raviolis will be finished cooking once they float to the top. Drain and pour back into the hot pot. Place on the warm burner. {You don’t need the burner on!}
• To make a simple garlic cream sauce, melt some butter in with the hot raviolis {still in the same pot you used to cook them in}. Grate in a little garlic, a splash of cream, some grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Stir for a minute or two or until sauce thickens slightly. Serve immediately. {For about 12 raviolis, I used 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 large clove of garlic, 1/4 cup cream, 1/2 cup cheese, salt and pepper.}
• To make the butternut squash filling, place cubed squash into a large pot with chicken stock. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer until squash is soft. Drain.
• While squash is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until tender, 7 minutes. Reduce heat and add in garlic. Cook 1 minute and remove from heat.
• Place cooked squash, onions, garlic, and remaining ingredients into a food processor. Puree. Store in refrigerator until ready to fill raviolis.

Nutrition

Calories: 454kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 181mg | Sodium: 594mg | Potassium: 660mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 12683IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 313mg | Iron: 4mg

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: ravioli