Hand Made Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli

I finally received a pasta roller for Christmas this year and was eager to put it to the test. Here is my version of a pretty classic Italian dish...

Pasta Dough:

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

Filling:

1 lb fresh spinach
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbl salt
1 large tub of Ricotta Cheese
1 egg
2 tbl cream
4 Tbl Parmesan Cheese (grated)
¼ tsp fresh nutmeg
Pinch black pepper

Sauce:

1 large can whole tomatoes (San Marzano are best)
1 onion (Small dice)
1 small bunch of basil
2 cloves garlic

For the pasta:

Pile the flour on a clean working surface and make a well in the middle. Crack the eggs into the well, add salt and scramble with a fork. 

 Slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs using a fork and then your hands until all of the flour is into the eggs.

Kneed the dough for 10-12 minutes until the surface becomes shiny. Pat the dough with a few drops of good olive oil and wrap in saran. Rest the dough at room temperature for about an hour before rolling it out.

Cut the pasta into 4 pieces and roll it into sheets according to your pasta machine.

For the filling:

Sautee the spinach, nutmeg, and salt in olive oil until it becomes fully wilted. Set aside to cool. 

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. When the spinach is cooled, squeeze any moisture out and add it to the mixture. Fold in. Put the spinach and ricotta mixture into a ziplock bag and cut off one corner to create a piping bag.

Pipe the spinach and ricotta mixture onto the sheets of pasta leaving room to create ravioli.

Scramble one egg and brush it onto the dough between the piles of mixture. This will act as a glue for the top half of the dough. Place a sheet of dough on top of the ravioli and press out any air. Cut into ravioli shapes and pinch the edges to make sure the seal doesn’t break.


One lesson that I learned was not to stack the ravioli when you make them. They will stick together regardless of the amount of flour you dust them with. Make sure to lay them as a single layer on a pan or large platter. 

For the sauce:

Sautee the whole garlic cloves in olive oil over medium heat and discard them when they have turned brown. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Open the can of tomatoes and blend with a hand blender or food processor. cook the sauce for 4-5 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste. Add torn basil leaves right before serving.

To finish:

Boil a pot of heavily salted water and cook the ravioli for 3-4 minutes. Add the ravioli to the sauce and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

My ravioli was a bit too large and perogi-esq. I would make them a bit smaller than this next time...but a good first attempt.