Ravioli (dough And Choice Of 4 Fillings)

Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 lbs ricotta cheese (drained)
• 1/4 lb freshly grated romano cheese (about 1 cup)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 lb mortadella or 1/4 lb ham or 1/4 lb prosciutto or 1/4 lb salami, chopped fine (optional)
• 1 dash nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs ricotta cheese (drained)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup freshly grated romano cheese
• 1 1/2-2 tablespoons finely minced fresh italian flat leaf parsley
• 1/4-1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 lb ground veal
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup cooked chopped spinach, squeezed dry
• 1 tablespoon chopped italian flat leaf parsley
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese
• 1 dash nutmeg
• 3/4 lb loose sweet italian sausage link (or casings removed from links)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese (if you prefer a less sharp cheese, freshly grated parmesan cheese may be substituted for the romano)

Recipe

• 1 making the filling: ricotta filling#1: in a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• 2 ricotta filling#2: in a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
• 3 beef and spinach filling: brown beef and veal in butter with the whole clove of garlic.
• 4 remove garlic and let meat mixture cool.
• 5 mix spinach, parsley, eggs, cheese and nutmeg into cooled meat until well blended, set aside filling until needed.
• 6 sausage filling: brown sausage in frying pan, drain fat and allow sausage to cool.
• 7 when sausage has cooled, mix in eggs and cheese, set aside filling until needed.
• 8 making the ravioli dough: sift flour and salt together.
• 9 place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
• 10 drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.
• 11 combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
• 12 knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• 13 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).
• 14 filling the ravioli: drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
• 15 when the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.
• 16 using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
• 17 cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.
• 18 drying the ravioli: allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
• 19 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.
• 20 remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.
• 21 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.
• 22 serve hot.