Believe it or not, I’ve made pasta from scratch before. And I swore I’d never do it again. It tasted fine, but it was so much work. I did end up making pasta again, this time grinding my own wheat. That’s the key to making the best pasta that just can’t be bought in a store.
Ingredients:
2 ½ c. soft white wheat flour (about 2 ¼ c. wheat berries)
4 eggs
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 oz. parmesan cheese
several basil leaves
Grind the wheat berries to make fresh flour. Mill plenty of extra for kneading.
Gather the flour on a roomy surface. Make a well in the middle of the flour and scramble the eggs inside it. Gradually push more flour in the middle and continue to incorporate the two ingredients.
Once all the flour and eggs are combined, begin to knead on a well-floured surface. The dough should be more sticky than dry, but if it’s too sticky add more flour. Knead for 3 minutes until the dough is smooth.
Set the dough under a bowl (to keep it from drying out) for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and chopped basil leaves together.
After 30 minutes, roll out the dough. A pasta machine is not required; a rolling pin will get you where you need to go. Roll out the dough thin, but not so thin that it rips and falls apart. Use a large cup or biscuit cutter to cut out circles.
Put a small spoonful of the filling in the center of each circle. Do not overfill or it will ooze out and fall apart.
Dab the edge of the circle with water, fold the ravioli in half, and use a fork to press the seams together.
Repeat with each ravioli. Then, cook the ravioli in a pot of boiling water. Because the pasta is fresh, it only needs to cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Drain the water and serve the ravioli with sauce of your choice.
You’ll see that homemade pasta isn’t really all that hard! Part of what makes it so easy is not having tons of dough to roll out. This recipe serves 4.
Printable: Homemade Cheese Ravioli
