HOLY Ravioli!

Hello my Foodie Friends!

In the month of April, our Upstate New York spring weather can still include those chilly, damp days. Sometimes you just need a comforting meal to cozy up with. We all have our comfort foods. Pasta can be a perfect comfort food. One of my favorite pasta dishes includes ravioli –the stuffed pasta. Ravioli is an all-time favorite traditional food of Italy that has been prepared for generations.

appetizer. Top your ravioli with tomato sauce or marinara or try it with alfredo sauce or pesto. The sky’s the limit for pasta sauce and ravioli filling combos.

The use of tools like Ravioli maker forms give us some insurance and add a level of quality-control to the whole process. The little wells mean that each ravioli gets just about the same amount of filling. The maker also helps you get more raviolis from your sheets of pasta, wasting less dough and giving us a better pasta-to-filling ratio. When you roll over the top with a rolling pin, the pockets are simultaneously sealed and cut apart. You get perfectly-sized ravioli every time. The Ravioli Form will be your way to enjoy fresh, homemade ravioli any time. The deep pockets will be great for stuffing with any meats and cheeses you choose. To use the form, you simply place a sheet of dough over the metal base, press down gently with plastic mold, fill with your favorite filling, and cover with an additional layer of dough. You can make up to 12

Homemade Ravioli Dough

Ingredients

• 1 egg

• 3 egg yolks

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

Prepare the Ravioli Dough: Combine the egg, egg yolks, salt, and olive oil and pulse until creamy and combined. Add half the flour and pulse in a food processor or by hand to combine. Add the remaining flour and continue until combined.If the dough seems too dry, add a few splashes of

Homemade Crab Ravioli

Ingredients

Crab Ravioli Filling:

• 1 pound jumbo lump crab meat picked over for any shells

• ½ cup ricotta cheese

• Juice of 1/2 a lemon

• Crushed red pepper to taste

• Salt and pepper to taste ravioli at a time, each one will be square with a classic edging. The aluminum base is sturdy and easy to clean while the plastic mold is dishwasher safe.

Another tool to use for making ravioli is a ravioli stamp cutter. The stamp cutter makes homemade ravioli easier and faster to prepare by letting you cut them out perfectly every time. The stamps cut the ravioli with a traditional scalloped border, indenting the edges of the pasta to ensure it is evenly sealed at the same time.

For a truly relaxing evening with your favorite ravioli recipe, light a candle and crack open a bottle of your favorite wine. Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store for the tools you need to make your comfort foods. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

Take Care, John & Paula

water. The dough should be sticky but still hold together.

Finish the Dough:

Pour the dough onto a floured surface and knead until you form the dough into a smooth, elastic ball, about 7-8 minutes total. Wrap with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes to chill.

Roll the Dough: Cut the dough ball into 4 equalsized pieces. Using your hands, flatten each piece into an equal sized rectangle and dust with flour. Run the first piece through a pasta machine on the widest setting (0).

Dust liberally with more flour on both sides and fold the dough in half and run through the pasta machine on the widest setting again. Unfold and dust with flour again. Continue passing the dough through the machine, incrementally decreasing the width on the machine until you reach level 6 on the machine. Be sure to dust the dough between passes. The sheet of pasta should be thin but not breaking apart; you should be able to see your fingers through it. Once you have a very long sheet, lay it down on a floured surface. Use either a ravioli stamp or ravioli form. Meanwhile, roll out another piece of dough into another long piece, similar to the previous sheet. Place on a floured surface until needed.

Instructions

Prepare the Filling:

In a bowl combine the crab, ricotta, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper and mix gently to combine. Do not over mix. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

Form the Ravioli:

1. Using a tablespoon, spoon the ravioli filling equidistant apart on the sheet of dough. You want about 2” of clear space around the filling. You will likely have about 8 spoonfuls of filling across the sheet of dough.

2. Carefully lay the second sheet of dough on top of the first sheet, lining it up as much as possible.

3. Using your fingers, press the dough around the filling to push out any air pockets. You want the top layer of dough to adhere as tightly to the filling and the bottom layer of dough as possible.

4. Using a stamp or ravioli form, cut the ravioli out and discard the leftover dough.

5. Continue on with the remaining 2 pieces of dough until you have used up all the filling. Note: If you have any leftover filling, you can add some panko to it and fry it up for delicious crab balls!

Cook or Freeze the Ravioli:

If cooking, simply bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook for 3-6 minutes or until the ravioli float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider tool and serve with a sauce of your choice. Note: Do not dump into a colander or the ravioli will break.

Find freezing instructions online