Homemade Pasta for Ravioli

OK, call me silly or call me crazy.....but I did it.  I really, REALLY did it.  And you know what - it worked!  It REALLY worked.  I was surprised.  I was amazed.  I was....a bit disappointed too.

What is it you ask??

I finally got up the nerve (and thankfully nearly a full day) to try to make my own pasta dough.  I really wanted to try for a long time, but given my history with wasting flour and water on pastry - I knew it would be a battle.  And battle I did!!  From start to finish.

And honestly, until the Kitchen Aide Fairy (yes, I believe in fairies and Santa, get over it) drops a pasta roller attachement into my kitchen cupboard - I will not (repeat often, NOT) be making pasta for ravioli ever again.  Done.  Stick a fork in me, turn me over and pass the salt and pepper.

Done.

I just don't see how to get the dough thin enough.  Really - that's it.  I rolled for ages.  Mr. Hungry rolled too.  There was not getting it the right way!!  My dough was too thick.  And it caused problems.  And had it been thinner - this story would have a different ending.  I know it!

But, since I learned early in school (or was that at home....can't remember) that 'sharing is caring', I will share my experience with you all.  Remember.  There will be no laughing.  There will be no pointing and shouting loser, loser, LOSER.  You'll only hurt my feelers.

Homemade Pasta

Makes: 20-40 ravioli, or a really BIG mess

Tomato Cream Sauce recipe to follow

5 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4-1/2 cup warm water
salt

Make sure you're working on a really clean work surface, where you will do your mixing, kneading and rolling.  That's right, you don't need a bowl for this one!!

Make a mound out of your flour, in the middle of the counter.  Trust me, experience tells me to SHARE with you that you do NOT want to do this close to the edge of the counter.  Stay AWAY from the edge.

Sprinkle a hefty dose of salt onto your flour.  Mix it around with your hands.  Then, dig a wee hole into the flour, so it looks like a miniature volcano.  A big crater, my experience tells me will work better.

And, into this crater you will drop all of your eggs.  Crack them open first.  Common sense told me so.

Now see - this is why I told you a BIG crater.  Looks like them there eggs are going to start running for the border, hey??  Well, good thing you're working into the middle of the counter or them there eggs would be making a break for the border and all over your floor!

So, all joking aside, I found this part fun.  Take a two fingers and give those eggs a mighty 'peace' sign, and start mixing them up right there in that crater, bringing in the flour as you go in circles and creating your dough.

See how those eggs try to escape??  Grrrrr.  OK, this is where it probably started to go wrong, but my Momma didn't raise a quitter so I kept on going. 

Wildly sloshing them darned eggs BACK onto the counter (remember, my experience tells me to share...) with the palm of my hand, I started to see and end to the beginning. 

It was madness.  Pure madness. 

And I really wanted to get photos for you, but my hands were covered in that sticky mess and grabbing that camera would only mean the eggs would win.  And no egg wins in my house, I tell ya!

OK, so now I just smashed that flour and eggs mess together as best I could.  No shame in admitting it was awful to see in real life.  It started to resemble pastry, before adding the water (all clumpy and bits all over the place) and that's when I started to add the water a bit at a time and smasked some more, pulling it all into a ball.  When it starts to hold together, add a bit more water until you get a soft dough that's easy to knead.

Grab a glass of wine and drink 2 glasses really fast.  Saves your sanity.  Honest.  Make the pain feel a bit better too.

Now you've got a dough.  But, it needs to become soft AND pliable, so start kneading.  Knead.  And knead more.  Feel free to lightly dust the counter with flour so the dough doesn't stick.

Knead for about 15 minutes.

When done, wrap your dough in a tea towel that's been wetted (??) and wrung out really well, and let rest for 15-20 minutes.  Why, you ask?  Because that darned dough has given you a run for your money.  YOU DESERVE A BREAK!  OK, not really.  It needs to rest, trust me.

When rested, unwrap and cut the dough into 4 good size pieces.  Work with one piece at a time, and wrap the rest up so it doesn't dry out.

Flour your work surface and start rolling.  The plan here is to get that dough paper thin, without getting it stuck to the counter.  Use flour when needed - but make sure to keep it light or that soft dough will start to get hard.

Roll, roll, roll.  And dream about the Kitchen Aide Fairy - all twinkly and shiny in her greatness.  *sigh*  See, now if I had a pasta roller, this experiment would have turned out better.  I know it!!

See, now this is the part I found the hardest.  Rolling forever.  And I just could NOT get that dough thin enough.  And when I did, it would start to shrink again and get thick.  Gah.

I went with what I had though, no looking back!

Use a small cookie cutter and begin cutting out rounds (or squares, or hearts - whatever you want) for your ravioli.  Stack them up, cover with a towel so they don't dry out and start filling your ravioli.

Drop a small bit of filling into the centre of your round, being careful to keep away from the edges as this is where you're going to have to seal your ravioli up.  Wipe the edge of your pasta with some water on your fingertips.

Place another pasta round on top and, using firm but careful pressure - seal the edges well.  Place that ravioli onto a plate and start on the next.  You do not need to cover them, as having them 'dry' will help them cook better.

Continue until pasta supply has been depleted or you just plain run out of steam.

Even Loo helps!

Drop finished ravioli into a well salted pot of boiling water.  Cook for 7-15 minutes (a bit of a stretch on the time frame there, I know, but the time all depends on how thin - or thick - you've made your pasta).  Ours cooked for about 8 minutes and really could have used about 5 minutes more.

Want to know if they are done?  Grab one out of the pot and cut it in half.  If you can see any white in the layer of pasta, it's not done.  A well cooked pasta will not have any white yet will still be 'al dente'.

Drain them, and dress with your favorite sauce.  Really, you can put ANY sauce you want with these but we like cream sauces.



Serve....if you're brave enough.  I was brave enough.  Mr. Hungry was brave enough.  I served them.  He ate them.  Actually went back for seconds and thirds.  But he's like that.  Got to love him!

Me, I enjoyed them but would have LOVED them had they been cooked more.  And the one's that ended up in the freezer WILL get cooked more.  And they will be terrific!!

See - it's still a happy ending.  The pasta tasted good.  It was fluffy enough, and held up well.  It was just to darned thick and I didn't cook it enough.  Next time, I will do better.  As long as the Kitchen Aide Fairy stops by, that is.....and until she does I will be using wonton wrappers.  No mixing, no kneading and they are nice and thin.

Hope you enjoyed my story!

--The Cook