Key Takeaways:
- Simple Ingredients for Pasta Dough: Traditional pasta dough only requires three ingredients: flour, eggs, and salt (optional). Using finely milled 00 flour yields the best results, but all-purpose flour with added water works well too.
- Ravioli Filling and Options: The three-cheese ravioli filling combines cheese, eggs, spinach, herbs, and lemon zest. Adding a sauce like sage browned butter, marinara, or a meat sauce elevates the dish.
- Rest and Roll: After mixing, let the dough rest for 30–60 minutes to allow gluten strands to relax for easier rolling and improved texture.
- Using a Ravioli Maker: A ravioli maker simplifies the process, ensuring consistent shapes and sealed edges. Spray it with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Cooking Times: Fresh ravioli cooks in 5–6 minutes in boiling water, while frozen ravioli takes about 7 minutes. They’ll float to the top when ready.
- Storage Tips: Fresh ravioli lasts 3–4 days in the fridge if stored with plastic wrap to prevent drying. For freezing, place ravioli on parchment paper, freeze individually, and store in vacuum-sealed bags for up to a year.
Three Cheese Ravioli: Little pillows of deliciousness filled with even more YUM. I went to the freezer a few nights back to get some homemade three-cheese ravioli for dinner. I searched the whole freezer. It is an upright thank goodness. Hanging upside down, rummaging through a chest freezer is not my idea of how I want to spend my time. After several minutes of rummaging through my large upright deep-freezer, I came to the sad conclusion, I had no more three-cheese ravioli. BUMMER. I did want that ravioli for dinner. So dinner was spaghetti and meatballs instead, with some cheese on top.
Guess I will have to make some more ravioli. Oh Darn!!! (happy dance) Three Cheese with spinach ravioli is a favorite. If I add some sage browned butter, or tomato sauce and a few slices of homemade garlic bread, now I have the beginnings of a wonderful carb coma.
Let’s get this carb-coma started with the pasta dough.
Pasta has three simple ingredients: flour, eggs, and salt. The salt is optional as some like to omit it and add it to the water the pasta is cooked in. That’s it! Vinny’s grandma made this recipe the old fashioned way. The old way was to mix the eggs into the flour by hand and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. I tried it once, and then bought me a pasta roller and cutter attachment for my KitchenAid mixer.
Flour: a finely milled flour 00 Italian makes the best pasta. However, I have found unbleached all-purpose will work if you add two tablespoons of water.
Eggs: Whole eggs vs. egg yolks only. Whole eggs add more moisture to the dough, which makes the gluten strands more pliable and easier to roll out. Egg yolks make a richer dough as the egg yolks add fat and less moisture to the dough. Dough made with only egg yolks needs a longer rest period.
Once the dough is mixed, let it rest for about 30 to 60 minutes before rolling it out. This gives the flour a chance to fully absorb the moisture, letting the gluten strands relax, making it more pliable and easier to roll out.
That’s the process in pictures. I use a Bellemain Ravioli Maker. I have found that this is the best ravioli maker. It makes beautiful ravioli that stay sealed during the cooking process. It is easy to use and inexpensive. You can find it in Shop My Kitchen under Tools and Utensils.
To Cook: Drop the three-cheese ravioli in 4 quarts of boiling water. The ravioli will sink and then float back up to the top of the boiling water. Cook fresh ravioli for 5 to 6 minutes. Frozen ravioli for 7-minutes. Serve with your favorite topping. Delicious with my Sage Browned Butter sauce my marinara sauce or my spaghetti and meatball sauce.
Storing Ravioli: The fresh ravioli will keep in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. Make sure the ravioli doesn’t dry out in the Fridge. I place a piece of plastic wrap on a plate and spray it with a little cooking spray. I then layer about 12 of the ravioli on the plate and put a piece of plastic wrap that I sprayed with cooking spray on top. This seals the ravioli and keeps the ravioli from sticking to the plate of plastic wrap. You can put a second and third layer of Ravioli on top. Make sure it is sandwiched with the sprayed plastic wrap.
Freezing Ravioli: Freeze ravioli in a single layer on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, place the ravioli in a vacuum food- storage bag. Vacuum the air out and seal the bag. Ravioli that is vacuum-sealed will keep up to a year. Ravioli that is frozen and not vacuum-sealed will keep up to a month in a ziplock bag. It will start to develop freezer burn after 2 -3 weeks.
I’ve worked up an appetite with all this writing. Bring on that carb-coma!!!
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FAQ:
Q: What type of flour works best for homemade pasta?
A: 00 Italian flour is ideal for its fine texture, but unbleached all-purpose flour can also be used by adding two tablespoons of water to the dough.
Q: Why does pasta dough need to rest before rolling?
A: Resting allows the flour to absorb moisture fully and lets the gluten strands relax, making the dough more pliable and easier to roll.
Q: Can I use only egg yolks instead of whole eggs for the dough?
A: Yes, but dough made with egg yolks alone is richer and requires a longer resting period due to lower moisture content.
Q: How should I store fresh ravioli in the fridge?
A: Layer ravioli between sheets of cooking spray-coated plastic wrap to prevent drying and sticking. Store for up to 3–4 days.
Q: What is the best way to freeze ravioli?
A: Freeze ravioli in a single layer on parchment paper, then transfer to a vacuum-sealed bag for up to a year. If not vacuum-sealed, use within a month to avoid freezer burn.
Q: How do I know when ravioli is cooked?
A: Ravioli will sink initially and float to the top of boiling water when ready. Fresh ravioli takes 5–6 minutes, while frozen ravioli takes about 7 minutes.
Three Cheese Ravioli - Homemade
Equipment
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- pasta roller
- Bellemain Ravioli Maker
Ingredients
Ravioli Pasta Dough
- 4 cups flour Italian 00 (18 ounces)
- 6 eggs large
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp water only add if you use unbleached all-purpose flour
Three Cheese Ravioli Filling
- 1 lb ricotta cheese about 3 cups
- 1 cup Italian Blend of cheeses A 2 cheese blend
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp dried Italian seasoning can 4 tbsp of fresh minced instead.
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the Pasta
- To adjust the portions, click on the number of serving and a slider will pop up. Adjusting the slider up or down will automatically recalculate the amount needed for each ingredient.
- Mix all the pasta dough ingredients together in the bowl of the stand mixer. Knead the dough on medium-low until you have a smooth dough. About 2 minutes. Let the dough rest for 60 minutes
- Divide the dough into 6 pieces and cover to keep from drying out. Then roll out each piece of dough using the pasta roller attachment until the desired thickness and length are achieved. You can also roll the dough by hand. I use a KitchenAid pasta roller. I start on the #1 setting and stop on the #6 setting. You want a rectangle of pasta that is at least 5 by 13 inches.
Make the Ravioli
- Mix all the filling ingredients together.
- Spray the metal ravioli mold with some cooking spray and place a sheet of pasta dough over the mold.
- Place the plastic mold over the dough and press it gently down into the metal frame to form the pockets. Remove the plastic mold.
- Fill each ravioli pocket with 1 tbsp three-cheese filling mixture. Brush egg washes on all four sides of the pockets.
- Place one sheet of rolled pasta on top of the filled pockets and seal with a rolling pin. The metal frame will partially cut the ravioli apart when you roll the rolling pin over the filled pockets.
- Invert the metal ravioli frame over and remove. Use a pasta cutter with a scalloped edge to cut the ravioli apart. Save the scraps as they will be enough to make about 12 more ravioli.
- Place the ravioli on parchment paper on a baking sheet. The ravioli can be cooked and eaten now or refrigerated in a covered single layer for 3 days.
- Cook the pasta in 4 quarts of boiling water until the desired doneness. Cook 5 - 6 minutes for fresh pasta or 7 - 8 minutes for frozen pasta.
- Drain into a colander and run under cool water briefly to stop the cooking process.
- Serve with your favorite sauce or my Sage Browned Butter. Click here for the recipe and a video on how to make Sage Browned Butter
- Ravioli can be frozen on the parchment paper. Once frozen remove from the paper and put in a vacuum bag frozen. Vacuum packed pasta will keep for 1 year or in a ziplock bag for 3-4 weeks. This recipe yields about 48 ravioli.
