Our Favorite Homemade Ravioli Recipe

Making homemade ravioli is so much fun! My kids love rolling out the dough and cutting and shaping the ravioli, not to mention the pure satisfaction of eating their beautiful and delicious creations afterward. This project does take some time, but to break it up, you can make the filling a day ahead. Allow a couple hours on the weekend to make the dough and roll out the ravioli without being stressed. You can always freeze the pasta and cook it at a later time. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce or just melted butter and Parmesan.

Note: You need a pasta machine for this recipe. Adding whole wheat flour to the pasta dough isn’t a great idea, as stuffed pasta needs to be extra elastic to survive the process of rolling, stuffing, and boiling without falling apart when it cooks.

Rainbow Chard Ravioli

Makes 4 dozen ravioli

Rainbow Chard Ravioli Ingredients:

Filling
8 ounces chard (about 5 large leaves or most of a bunch)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Pinch nutmeg

Pasta
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water, or as needed

2 tablespoons melted butter
Grated Parmesan cheese

Rainbow Chard Ravioli Directions:

1. To make the filling: Tear the chard leaves off the stems, then wash carefully by dunking in a large bowl of water. Place in a steamer and cook 8-10 minutes, until very tender.

2. Let cool then squeeze as much liquid as you can from the chard. Place in a food processor and chop fine, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to combine. (You can make this filling a day ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)

3. To make the pasta dough: Place the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and oil. Use a fork to lightly whisk the eggs, slowly incorporating the flour as you go. Add a small amount of water. Continue mixing, adding more water as needed, to form a dough that holds together.

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and knead by hand for about 5 minutes, until smooth and no longer sticky. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes to 1 hour.

5. To roll the dough: Grasp a handful of dough (keep the remaining dough wrapped) and flatten it to about 1/4 inch thick. Roll it through the largest setting of the pasta machine. Fold the piece into thirds like a letter, then turn and run through again. Repeat this twice to get the dough into a somewhat rectangular shape.

6. Continue rolling the dough, using smaller and smaller settings on the pasta machine, until you have a very long piece about as wide as the pasta machine.

7. Cut the piece in half and place one half on a clean surface. Space out teaspoonfuls of the filling on the dough, 1 inch apart with a 1/2 inch margin on the top and bottom. Drape the other piece of pasta on top, then gently press down to remove air in the empty spaces around the filling. Cut out the ravioli with a knife, ravioli cutter, or sharp pastry cutter to make 2-inch square ravioli with about a 1/2 inch margin around the filling. Try to keep the margins free of filling so they seal well. Press down any edges that aren’t sealed.

8. Place the finished ravioli in one layer on a baking sheet and cover with a clean kitchen towel while you finish the remaining ravioli, using more baking sheets if needed. (You can save scraps, called malfatti, to serve with pasta sauce for another meal. Spread out on a baking sheet to dry or freeze, then boil and toss with sauce.) If you’d like to serve the ravioli later, you can freeze them on their baking pans until firm, then transfer to zip-top bags to store.

9. To cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli, 12-20 at a time, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the pasta is very tender but not falling apart. Drain and gently toss with melted butter, then keep warm while you finish the remaining pasta. Top with Parmesan or another sauce of your choice.