By far one of my favorite things to whip up on a rainy day. Raviolis and tortellinis are super easy to make, freeze beautifully and make for a quick and satisfying dinner. Bonus, you can use leftovers as the filling. But this post is on how to make these plump beauties using a basic filling.
Ingredients
Basic Filling:
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded or grated cheese (could be one type of cheese or a mix of cheeses, think parmesan, pecorino, mozzarella, provolone or asagio)
Pinch of Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons herbs of your choice such as basil, oregano, thyme, parsley...etc
1 egg
Dough:
1 batch of either semolina dough or egg/flour dough
Directions:
1. In a medium bowl mix all of your filling ingredients together until fully combined. Set aside.
2. a) If you're using a pasta machine, set your flat roller to level one. Pass the dough through the machine. Repeat until you pass it the dough through level 6. Dust your surface with flour and place dough sheet on it.
b) If you are rolling the dough by hand, sprinkle surface with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough as thin as you want. I prefer a dough thin enough that I can see the outline of my hand.
3. Using a 4 inch biscuit round cutter (cookie cutter or water glass), cut out rounds.
4. Using a small spoon, scoop some filling and add it to the center of each round. Note: avoid the temptation of overstuffing your raviolis. They will explode when being cooked.
5. Lightly wet your finger with water and run it around the edge of half the round. Then fold the round in half, pinching the edges to seal the ravioli's edges.
6. You now have a half-moon ravioli.
7. To turn the ravioli into a tortellini, simply dampen one corner with a tiny bit of water, bring both edges together towards the flat side and pinch them to stick.
