Here is a simple sausage and cheese ravioli that you can make for not a lot of money. Ravioli is one of those foods that you can modify a million different ways.
You can add any type of filling that you have in the fridge or pantry. You can boil them, fry them and/or bake them.
Let’s begin.
So I gathered some supplies
- Flour
- Eggs
- Marinara Sauce
- Garlic Powder
- Fresh Sausage From Our Pigs
- Onions
- Mozzarella
I started by dumping three cups of flour into a mixing bowl.
To make pasta; hollow out the center of the flour and crack one egg per cup of flour to get started.
Start whisking the eggs and pulling some flour into the middle slowly incorporating them.
If it starts clumping up and drying out; add one egg at a time while whisking until all the flour is incorporated. I ended up adding two more eggs.
Start kneading the dough for about ten minutes; lightly dusting the dough with flour as you knead. You want a slightly tacky ball to touch, but not so much that it sticks to your hand.
Cut the dough into four equal parts and let them rest for five minutes. Cover them with plastic wrap so they do not dry out.
Grab your handy dandy pasta roller and ravioli maker. Mine I picked up from amazon.com.
This is our pasta maker.
http://www.amazon.com/Marcato-Atlas-Wellness-Pasta-Stainless/dp/B0009U5OSO
This is the ravioli form we use.
http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Ravioli-Maker-With-Press/dp/B000BBGV0G
Take a section of dough and flatten it by hand; then send it through the pasta maker on the largest setting.
If it is still tacky then flour it some, fold it up and send it back through the roller.
Repeat the process by turning the rollers down a setting, send the dough through, flour if still tacky, fold and resend through. Keep doing these steps until you have a long thin sheet of dough.
I missed a pic, but spray your ravioli mold with pam spray to help with releasing the dough. Drape the end of the dough over the mold and use the press to form your raviolis.
Place your filling in the divots created by the press. It doesn’t take a lot; you will quickly learn what is too much or too little.
Fold your pasta sheet over the top of the filling.
Use a rolling pin and roll over the top of the dough until the edges of the form start showing through.
Tear off the access around the form and set it aside to reuse on the next roll.
This is where you will wish you used some pam spray if you did not. You could also lightly flour the form if you prefer. Flip the form over and your fresh hand made raviolis should pop right out. You might have one or two stick; just gently use your finger and push it out, being careful not to tear the dough. If some of the raviolis are still connected you can just use a knife or pizza cutter to separate them easily.
I melted some butter and started sauteing the pasta.
While they were cooking I chopped an onion.
I ended up making 72 raviolis and set them into a baking dish after browning them all. I still had enough dough for about another eighteen but I ran out of filling.
I poured the sauce over them and at the last moment decided to pour drained stewed tomatoes over them as well.
I sprinkled two cups of shredded mozzarella over the top.
Finishing it with the little bit of pork left, onions and garlic powder.
I wrapped it up with foil and threw it into the wood stove.
Just over a hour later and it was done.
It was excellent.
So if you are a pasta fan, go ahead and give it a shot!