Mastering Ravioli (The Most Detailed Guide on the Internet)

Mastering Ravioli (The Most Detailed Guide on the Internet)

00:00 Intro
01:08 Swiss Chard and Ricotta Filling
05:02 Egg Pasta Dough
07:41 Rolling out the Dough
10:30 How to Control the Stickiness
11:49 Shaping with a Ravioli Tray
14:57 Shaping with a Round Ravioli Cutter
17:05 How to Store
18:39 Sage Butter Sauce
19:46 Cooking Ravioli

Serves 4

The Dough:
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2 large egg + 3 large yolk + enough cold water to get 185g of wet ingredients
300g bread flour (unbleached all-purpose is fine in a pinch)
5.7g salt (1 tsp table salt or 2 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher or weighed for all other salt types)

Put the wet ingredients into a bowl of a mixer. Add the salt and flour and mix with a dough hook on medium-low until homogeneous. Touch the dough, if it’s at all sticky, add more flour. Knead for 5 more minutes in a mixer (assuming it’s doing a good job with this stiff dough) or 8 minutes by hand. Flour, wrap in plastic, and let rest 30 min and up to 5 hours at room temperature.

The Filling:
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2 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 Lb Whole Milk Ricotta without gums or stabilizers
10g finely grated parmesan
Salt, pepper, and acidity to taste (I use pomegranate molasses or lemon juice)

Cut the chard stems into small pieces. Set a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chard stems and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until brown and tender, about 10 min. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about a minute. Slice the chard leaves, chop into small pieces, and add to the pan. Cover and cook until starting to wilt, 2-3 minutes. Uncover, and cook stirring until completely wilted. Take off heat, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice or pomegranate molasses. Cool completely.
Drain ricotta for 15 min between 6 layers of paper towels (3 on top and 3 on the bottom), pressed with a heavy pot. Combine the chard, ricotta, and parmesan. Mix well and adjust the seasoning.

Sage butter sauce:
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4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 whole garlic clove
10-12 sage leaves
Salt and lemon juice to taste

Set a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts and the white foam subsides. Add the garlic and sage. Cook until the sage leaves start to stiffen. Flip and cook until the leaves are crisp and the butter is brown. Sprinkle the leaves with a little salt. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic clove and discard. Season with a few drops of lemon juice and salt.

Bring a large pot of water to almost a boil. Salt heavily. I use 65g salt for 6.5qt (6 L) of water. Bring to a boil. Add the ravioli. Cover just until the water boils. Uncover, reduce heat to maintain an energetic simmer, and cook until done, about 1 min for fresh, 2-3 for frozen.

Mix with sage butter and an additional 4 Tbsp of fresh butter and serve immediately.

Other filling ideas:

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[dinadaly]

This video waa so helpful!! Another protip is to make the filling the day before so you don't 1. destroy the kitchen and 2. get too tired and take forever!

[lizkrohn]

I am South African and we grow A LOT of Swiss Chard that we call spinach here. I have a trick. I wash my spinach is salt water, strip the green leaves off the stalks and put them in a plastic bag. Then freeze it. The leaves take up a lot of space! Once it has frozen (usually over night) I take out the bag and knock everything flat and go over it with a rolling pin. Don't open the bag. My kids used to put the bag on the floor and jump on it, lots of fun! When you open the bag, the swiss chard is in tiny pieces as if you chopped for a long time. It cooks in seconds.

[jimmiemack]

I'm a 3rd generation Italian and been cooking Italian food for 50 + years. Your ingredients are spot on! I see many TV chefs using 2 or 3 eggs and their dough looks anemic. I do find that boiling the ravioli too long makes them tough. Thanks for your tips!

[carlosalbertobatistadasilv]

Helen, you said that the dough should not be made in great advance. However, a procedure that I do in my home for a while and works perfectly is making the dough, separating it in two people portion (me and my wife), wrapping into plastic and then freezing. When you need you just have to take the dough out of the freezer 40min earlier.
With this technique I make several protions at once.

Congratulations for the great content, as always.

[cozyvamp]

I remember my Mom's ravioli weekends -- one day for the filling and the sauce and one for actually making the ravioli. She made five or six dozen at a time, with quarts of sauce, and stocked our freezer. I really miss those raviolis. To make it worse, she spoiled us all for anyone else's raviolis. She learned all her Italian cooking from an Italian nonna, not hers -- she was German. /;) Those were the days and the meals! Thanks for this video.

[lorijackson]

I am so glad I found this video! Many, many years ago I attempted to make home made ravioli and it was a disaster. I never tried it again until just today because I recently purchased a KitchenAid mixer that has a pasta roller with it. I started scouring the internet for easy to follow instructions. Helen, I followed your dough recipe to a T as well as your method of rolling out the dough and running it through my pasta roller. Success!! My ravioli came out perfectly and was delicious! Thank you so much for such a detailed and east to follow video. I can now serve my Italian father home made ravioli with pride - LOL!!

[Henricule]

This instruction deserves a 5 star rating, not only for the adressed pitfalls.
Last days I browsed Utube for info on raviolo press use. My yesterdays ravioli where okay however this instruction addresses all stroubles I had.
Thank you very much.❤😊

[christianduus]

We all truly appreciate all the work you put into making such a comprehensive and clear tutorial, and all the tips you share along they way, Helen. Thank you!

[carolinedecastillo]

Thank you for your am an excellent chef, albeit an amateur. I have competed with BBQ, seafood, pie and cake baking, and dietary specialties, for which I have won awards. It has taken me over a year to perfect breads my family and I like, but did it trying over and over again. Sourdough, while being challenging, has brought great rewards.

But with great pasta, I have completely failed until now. I really appreciate your very specific instructions on particular pasta types, while heeding your advice on newbie mistakes. Your advice is VERY specific. I also respect the improvements you've made on previous methods.

This fresh pasta making thing is it by pasta.

Thanks again.

[katrinkarose]

This video is so perfectly timed for me. My husband's only request for his birthday next week was for me to try to recreate a ravioli dish we ate many years ago. But I've never made pasta, let alone ravioli. Armed with this video, I think I've got what I need to do the memory justice. Thank you!

[rak]

I've used your guide for making egg pasta (185g eggs, 300g flour) and it is perfect! Made ravioli for the first time last week. Came out pretty good, but is more time consuming and messy than anticipated. But it was very tasty and I look forward to making it again now that I know a bit more about what is involved. Your videos and instructions are helpful!

[mysuburbangarden.]

You are so detailed! Thank you. I made my first batch. I didn’t have any tools except a round cookie cutter. They turned out perfect. Nit one explosion. Your dough is perfection. I’ve made pasta via a electric para machine. I have only used semolina. This was the first time using bread flour. I like this so much more. They are so delicate. Can’t wait to see what else I can learn from you.

[danielleshelbourne]

Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into creating these videos Helen, I understand what an undertaking this is and I deeply appreciate it - as do many others I’m sure. I know I can count on your always comprehensive advice and techniques and following them will yield excellent results. 💕🙏

[rumbleinthekitchen_Amy]

Thank you for all the approachable pasta lessons. I bought myself a pasta roller for mother's day and have gotten pretty good at regular, ribbon pasta with your help. But ravioli is my daughter's favorite and so far has alluded me. Now I'm ready to try again.

[dollylove]

Thank you for such a detailed tutorial. I could listen to you speak all day.

[Purelychem]

Helen’s computer science background is coming through with “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature”

[UnitedCuisines]

That's a detailed guide, indeed! Thank you, Helen, will give it a go.

[francismajor]

Great tutorial on making ravioli. Thanks so much.

Update. My first batch of hand-made ravioli was a big success. The tips in this video were a big help.

[sarikagupta]

Thank you Helen for this Master Class. 🥰

[albertferguson]

This is the first video I have watched from her. She speaks so clearly, can't wait to see some of her other recipes!