Carrot Ravioli

The day I made the fruit cocktail and three other canning recipes, I also ended up making a batch of cookies and homemade ravioli.  I'm not going to have that kind of motivation for the foreseeable future, so I took the opportunity.  There was also a batch of pâte brisée on the list, but I just ran out of time and didn't feel like cleaning the food processor.

This was originally going to be mezzelunes to use up the last of the buckwheat flour.  The nice thing about pasta dough is that it's all the same thing.  You can made over a hundred shapes from the same basic recipe.  I decided that ravioli was less work and about the same number of dishes.  It does help that I used the pasta roller, but that is not necessary.

200 g flour (sorry, you have to weigh this one in metric)
kosher salt
2 eggs
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 C ricotta cheese
1 small carrot
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
pasta sauce of choice (I used *pesto)

1.  For the pasta, stir together flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl.  Make a well in the middle.  Crack two eggs into it and add olive oil.  With a fork, bring everything together into a crumbly dough.  If necessary, wet hands and knead until dough is smooth.  Wrap in plastic and let relax at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours in the fridge.

2.  While the dough is resting, make the filling.  Grate or shred carrot (sorry) after peeling.  Stir together with ricotta and marjoram.  Taste and add salt as necessary, or any other spices you might like that go with your sauce.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

3.  Start a large pot boiling with at least a gallon of water and a bit of salt.  Working with half or one-third of the dough at a time, roll out into long strips.  I went to a 5 thickness on my roller, but you're looking for about 1/16" thick.  Definitely less than 1/8", and about 4" wide.

4.  Spoon rounded teaspoons of filling on bottom half of strips, leaving enough room in-between to crimp off the ravioli.  With a damp pastry brush or your finger, wet the dough around the filling.  Fold over top half of dough and press down to seal each filling packet.  With a sharp knife or pizza roller, cut apart each individual raviolo (that really is the singular of ravioli) and place on a lightly floured sheet.

5.  At this point, you can freeze the ravioli for later or cook them now.  Gently place them in the boiling water, checking seals as you go.  I did lose a couple, but it think that was from stirring them with the pointy pasta spoon.  I should have used a flat one.

6.  Cook at a low boil until al dente, about 8 minutes for fresh and 10-12 from frozen.  Drain and add sauce.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  :)