I bought MT a pasta maker set for Christmas, and yes, as she reported in a recent Test Kitchen, when she wanted to try it out, I suggested we should use up all the leftover ham first.
But no, I wasn’t trying to stall her so I could be the first to use the new equipment that attaches to our KitchenAid stand mixer (an earlier gift to her that I knew I’d use more than she would, but perhaps more on that in the future). I just wanted to use all the extra ham, and to her credit she made an excellent ham and roasted veggie hash. I finished it off with some ham and vegetable soup.
That said, I did end up being the first to use the new pasta maker gear, though surely it was because I’m retired from full-time work and have more time to cook. I looked in my Pasta and Pizza Presto book and was surprised to find only two ravioli recipes, one calling for fresh pumpkin and the other suitable for desert with some chocolate involved. I went online and settled on this meat and cheese version.
I thought it was terrific. MT had a more reserved response, saying she loved the pasta but didn’t really like the filling. Then she admitted she had assumed I was going to make the pumpkin filling, though I’m sure I told her I dropped that idea for now (I plan to try it in the future). Yet after finishing one helping, she got up and said “Notice I’m going back for seconds.” Later she clarified: “The filling is growing on me, I give it two thumbs up.”
She took a sample for her mom, who also liked it. And she took some to the Newsroom Taste Testers, reporting back with these results:
“I’m trying to decide what’s different — the filling or the pasta. It’s probably a combination of the two,” Sam Zavada said, noting the homemade pasta dish he had tasted was unlike what he’s used to. “It almost feels like a hybrid between lasagna and ravioli.” Finally, he added, “I send my compliments to Mark. I think he did a good job with the pasta maker.”
“It’s very good,” Bill O’Boyle said. “It doesn’t seem as firm as what you’d buy in a store. And there’s some kind of seasoning in the filling that’s a little different.”
Editor Liz Baumeister said “it’s very good. The meat was flavorful and the texture of the pasta was just right for my taste,” admitting she is not a fan of al dente pasta. “The only thing I would like to suggest is some shredded mozzarella or Parmesan on top. I’m a cheese girl.”
Ah, well, I had served it at home with some grated Parmesan Reggiano.
“It was really good,” Margaret Roarty said. “The meat was well-seasoned and the pasta was very soft.” Adding that she has a pasta maker herself, which she hasn’t tried out yet, she said “I want to make some now.”
As to the filling: It seemed a bit odd to mix raw ground beef with the other stuff and trust it would all cook through in boiling water, so I gave a slight par-cook in a pan, leaving it mostly pink. And not being able to find either a ravioli mold or even a cutter/sealer wheel at a local store, I ended up laying one pasta sheet on the board, estimating the placement of tablespoons of filling, and putting a second sheet on top, sealing the edges and the spaces between each filling pocket. I then cut them into individual ravioli and sealed them further with fork tines. It worked well — not a single pasta pouch popped open during boiling.
Dobru chut!
Homemade Ravioli (billyparisi.com)
This makes about 48 raviolis (I cut it in half)
For the dough:
4 cups fine ground durum wheat semolina flour, or OO flour, or bread flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup cold water
For the filling:
4 eggs
1 pound ground beef
2⅓ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
¾ cup grated pecorino romano cheese (I used Parmigiano reggiano)
2 teaspoons sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1½ teaspoons garlic granules (I used garlic powder)
In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt 3 to 4 times.
Whisk together the eggs, oil, and water in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup until combined.
While processing the flour-salt mixture at high speed, slowly pour in the egg-water mixture until incorporated. Process until the dough turns into a tight ball and cleans the side of the processor (you may have to add water — one tablespoon at a time — while processing to get it to pull together). Remove the dough and knead on a clean, lightly floured surface for 2 to 3 minutes. It should be soft when pinching it, like Play-doh.
Cover and rest the dough for 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the meat, cheese, eggs, and seasonings until combined. Keep cool and covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Cut the pasta dough into 8 individual balls. Press each dough ball down and lightly flour on both sides. Run the dough through the widest setting on the pasta roller, then run it through on the second to last thinnest setting on the pasta roller (you may get better results by running through successively narrower settings rather than jumping to the second to last thinnest setting). Repeat the process with the other 7 dough balls and hang them on a pasta drying rack.
Lightly flour the top of a ravioli mold and place 1 of the rolled-out doughs on it. Stuff each ravioli slot with 1 to 1½ tablespoons of the meat filling totaling 12 individual filling slots. Do not over stuff. Place another sheet of rolled-out dough over top and then lightly flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the outside edges of the mold and center around each ravioli cutting through the dough into the mold, and separating them. Remove the excess dough around the outside. You can re-roll this out and make homemade spaghetti or any other pasta you’d like. Flip the mold over onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat the process 3 more times until you have 48 total ravioli.
You can either freeze the ravioli or boil them right away: Either way, to cook them bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and slide ravioli in. Once they are floating, cook them for another 5 to 6 minutes (longer if frozen), until the meat filling is cooked through (consider removing one and cutting it in half to check for doneness).
Drain ravioli and serve with tomato sauce of your choice.
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