Simply buying those packed cheese ravioli from the supermarket might be convenient, but nothing tastes like fresh, homemade pasta. Here, I can teach you how to make your own ravioli pasta and once you know how to do it, you'll know that I'm not talking nonesense when I say that it's best to cook pasta yourself.
The image on the right is what we are going to learn how to cook today. It's my own ravioli recipe that is a hybrid of various recipes from everywhere, I should say, as I made certain alterations.
In this recipe, I have categorized what we are going to do in two phases, namely:
Phase 1 - Making the Tomato Salsa
Phase 2 - Making the Ravioli Pasta
Phase 1
What You'll Need:
For the Salsa
7-8 red tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp red wine
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 small red onion, finely chopped
(For the salsa, simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. This is the first thing that you should do before you make your pasta)
Phase 2
For the Ravioli Pasta
2 cups of all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup milk
water
For the Coating
Bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese, powder
finely chopped fresh parsley
(Mix together using hand)
What to do:
1. After making your tomato salsa, on a clean work surface, make a mountain of flour. Then, make a well in the middle using a fork. Ensure the sides are high as we will need the height for the next step.
2. Break the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. 3. Put the yolks in the well made earlier. Add salt, olive oil and a bit of the milk. Stir slowly and carefully using a fork so as not to break the well. Start pulling the flour into the egg mixture bit by bit. The yolk will give the dough a nice, yellow color. Continue stirring, then repeat pulling flour. When mixture dries up, add the remaining milk and water and continue pulling flour until all flour is mixed. Add more water if necessary until dough comes together.
4. Knead dough for 8-10 minutes to make sure dough comes together. By then, dough will be smooth and when you slice the dough, all the flour is evenly mixed, without any traces of white grainy flour. Don't worry if you have added too much water, just simply add more flour to remove excess moisture. If it's too dry, sprinkle water to add moisture.
5.After it is properly kneaded and the dough now has a smooth texture, form it into a ball and coat or brush with a thin layer of olive oil, then cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or so.
6.While waiting, prepare the crumbs for use later. In a bowl: bread crumbs, finely chopped fresh parsley and parmesan cheese. Mix well. It's best to use your hands to mix them. I like to add a lot of parmesan, probably a cup or depends on how cheesy you want it to be, but everyone likes cheese!
8. Make sure it is thin, but not too thin. You don't want to end up with a thick pasta or a pasta that tears easily. There's actually a pasta machine you can use. See image below on the right corner of the picture. Use that if you have it.
9. The thin sheet is now ready for molding. If you have a ravioli cutter, that's great, but if not, just be resourceful. Get a glass or egg molder and use that to mold circle ravioli sheets (as shown in the picture).
10. Add the prepared tomato salsa and mozzarella cheese on top. Another option is to just use mozzarella cheese if you want it to be really cheesy. If that's the case, the salsa can be used separately later.
11. Now, using the egg whites you set aside earlier, dampen your finger with it and line the sides of the ravioli circles. This will be used as paste to seal the tomato and cheese fillings by putting another molded ravioli on top of the filling. Do this for the remaining sheets. Make as many as you can. From experience, a quarter of the ball makes about 4 servings or 8 ravioli circles.
12. Dip the ravioli with filling in egg white and then cover with prepared crumb mix. Do the same for the rest of the bunch.
13. Deep fry in oil until brownish in color. Do not overcook. One side takes at least 15 seconds to half a minute to achieve the desired color, depending on how hot your oil is. In this picture, I don't like to waste oil, it's not really deep frying, but should be enough if you know a few tricks ;)14. Drain the oil by using a strainer, then transfer them to a paper towel before you arrange them in a plate. Transfer the leftover salsa in a pretty bowl. In the picture, I placed mine in a cucumber to make it look lovely. Remember to serve them while hot!
Use the salsa to add a tangy flavor that complements the cheese filling. This makes a great alternative to pasta noodle dishes.
