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So..... I thought of a really great shortcut to making the meat-stuffed fried ravioli that my kids like so much at the Italian restaurants. We had a whole bunch of kiddos for the test group of this experiment. We made our own pasta - because the kids get a kick out of it (and you can make it really inexpensively); but I think if you REALLY wanted to cut some time from this, you could use the pre-made wonton wrappers that you can find in the produce section of most supermarkets.The goal - fried, meat-stuffed ravioli with marinara dipping sauce.
The shortcut for the filling - we cut pre-made Italian style meatballs in half (the 1/2 ounce size) and used those to fill the pasta. It worked like a dream!
HOMEMADE PASTA
2 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
 |
| The dry stuff |
- In mixing bowl stir together 2 cups flour and salt. Make a well in center.
 |
| The wet stuff |
- Combine eggs, water and olive oil.
 |
| Making the pasta dough |
- Add to flour. Mix well.
 |
| The flour sprinkle fairy |
- Sprinkle kneading surface with flour.
 |
| LOTS of kneading. Enough for everyone to have a turn. |
- Knead until dough is smooth, 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
- Then separate the dough (into three or four pieces) and run it through a pasta machine starting on the widest setting. Run it through each setting once or twice until it's silky, then continually change the settings.
 |
| Rolling out the pasta sheets (good looking kitchen crew, huh?) |
- You many need to cut the dough again with scissors if it gets too long. The thinnest setting I use is the second to smallest one... if it's TOO thin, it won't hold up for a filling.
 |
| The simmering meatballs |
- For the filling, I browned some Italian style (1/2 ounce) meatballs (Rosina brand frozen meatballs are my kids' favorite brand) in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, then added a can (yep!) of pasta sauce.
- For this sauce, we went with the Hunt's Garlic and Herb Pasta Sauce - only $1.00 for a large can!
- To the sauce, I added some of my own seasoning, as I always like to make it my own even when I'm using something premade: salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, basil, a bit of sugar to cut the acid.
 |
| Adding the pasta sheets to the ravioli maker "thingy." (Does this thing really have a name?) |
- After warming the meatballs through we cut them in half. Each half would become the filling to a ravioli.
- It turned out that this was the perfect size!
 |
| Filling the ravioli.... Little pillows of Italian goodness. |
- You may like to wet the edges of the pasta before adding the second layer so that it will stick together better if this is an issue for you.
- Be careful to press out all the air in the ravioli - or they may burst during the cooking.
 |
| Ready for the breading station. |
- The ravioli can be cooked immediately or frozen in a zip-top bag until needed.
- For this dish, we breaded them (1st: egg wash of egg yolks and water, then 2nd: italian breadcrumbs), fried them until golden brown and floating, and served them with marinara sauce and freshly grated asiago cheese. They sure didn't last long!
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| The finished ravioli.... ooooh...hot! |
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| Satisfied Customers! |
HOMEMADE PASTA
2 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
- In mixing bowl stir together 2 cups flour and salt. Make a well in center.
- Combine eggs, water and olive oil.
- Add to flour. Mix well.
- Sprinkle kneading surface with flour.
- Knead until dough is smooth, 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
- Then separate the dough (into three or four pieces) and run it through a pasta machine starting on the widest setting. Run it through each setting once or twice until it's silky, then continually change the settings.
- You many need to cut the dough again with scissors if it gets too long. The thinnest setting I use is the second to smallest one... if it's TOO thin, it won't hold up for a filling.
- For the filling, I browned some Italian style (1/2 ounce) meatballs (Rosina brand frozen meatballs are my kids' favorite brand) in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, then added a can (yep!) of pasta sauce.
- For this sauce, we went with the Hunt's Garlic and Herb Pasta Sauce - only $1.00 for a large can!
- To the sauce, I added some of my own seasoning, as I always like to make it my own even when I'm using something premade: salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, basil, a bit of sugar to cut the acid.
- After warming the meatballs through we cut them in half. Each half would become the filling to a ravioli.
- It turned out that this was the perfect size!
- You may like to wet the edges of the pasta before adding the second layer so that it will stick together better if this is an issue for you.
- Be careful to press out all the air in the ravioli - or they may burst during the cooking.
- The ravioli can be cooked immediately or frozen in a zip-top bag until needed.
- For this dish, we breaded them (1st: egg wash of egg yolks and water, then 2nd: italian breadcrumbs), fried them until golden brown and floating, and served them with marinara sauce and freshly grated asiago cheese. They sure didn't last long!
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