Best Toasted Ravioli And Basic Ravioli Dough Recipes

RAVIOLI (DOUGH AND CHOICE OF 4 FILLINGS)

Steps:

• MAKING THE FILLING: Ricotta Filling#1: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Ricotta Filling#2: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• Beef and Spinach Filling: Brown beef and veal in butter with the whole clove of garlic.
• Remove garlic and let meat mixture cool.
• Mix spinach, parsley, eggs, cheese and nutmeg into cooled meat until well blended, set aside filling until needed.
• Sausage Filling: Brown sausage in frying pan, drain fat and allow sausage to cool.
• When sausage has cooled, mix in eggs and cheese, set aside filling until needed.
• MAKING THE RAVIOLI DOUGH: Sift flour and salt together.
• Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
• Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.
• Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
• Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).
• FILLING THE RAVIOLI: Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
• When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.
• Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
• Cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.
• DRYING THE RAVIOLI: Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
• COOKING THE RAVIOLI: Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.
• Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.
• Place drained ravioli on a serving platter in layers, alternating layers with your favorite sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese between each ravioli layer.
• Serve hot.

TOASTED RAVIOLI

Steps:

• For the filling: Combine the ricotta, butter, parsley flakes, Romano, salt, pepper and egg in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.
• For the pasta dough: Fit a stand mixer with the dough hook, then generously oil the hook to prevent dough from sticking. Whisk the egg, milk, salt and 1 tablespoon water together in a mixing bowl. Pour egg and milk mixture into the stand mixer bowl and add half the flour. Beat the dough over medium-low speed until the flour begins to incorporate into the mixture. Gradually add the rest of the flour until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Once the dough is mixed, turn out onto a floured surface.
• Divide the dough into 2 portions. Using a pasta machine or pasta attachment for your stand mixer, sheet the dough: Begin with the machine on the thickest setting and run one of the dough pieces through. Gradually reduce the setting number until the dough has been sheeted through the lowest number.
• Scoop roughly 1/2-tablespoon dollops of filling on the pasta layer, leaving 1 inch of space from the edge of the pasta and in between each. Lightly sprinkle water over the pasta. This will help the top layer adhere.
• Using the same process as before, run the second portion of dough through the pasta machine, gradually thinning it to match the same thinness as the bottom layer. Carefully lay the top layer over the pasta and filling. Gently press the dough around the scoops of filling to seal the ravioli.
• Using a pasta cutter, cut the ravioli into 2-inch squares. Place cut ravioli on a parchment-lined sheet pan and cover. Freeze until completely solid, at least 3 hours. (Make sure your raviolis are fully frozen before breading, as the dough has a tendency to thaw quickly. If the raviolis are soft during breading, they can become misshapen.)
• For the breading: Whisk the eggs and milk together in a medium bowl. Add the cracker meal to a second medium bowl. Working in batches, dip ravioli into the egg and milk mixture, then toss into the cracker meal, coating well. Put breaded ravioli back on the lined sheet pan, cover and freeze for another 3 hours.
• Fill a large, heavy-bottomed pan halfway with canola oil and heat oil to 350 degrees F. Cook the ravioli in batches, being sure not to overcrowd the pan, and flipping during cooking, until golden brown all over, about 5 minutes.