If you have ever had real, homemade, from scratch ravioli… you know there is nothing quite like that. I will never eat pre-made ravioli again. There is something about the freshness of it and the satisfaction of making it yourself. I learned this art from a dear Italian family friend so rest assured, it is authentic. If you have never tried it, please don’t be scared off by the process. I promise you, you’ll capture the heart of everyone who eats it <3. So put on a little Dean Martin, pour yourself a glass of wine, and get cookin!

For the dough:

• 2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the filling:

• 8 oz. whole milk ricotta
• 1 cup of loosely packed fresh basil, chopped
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano

First, combine ingredients for the filling in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and put in fridge for later.

After this, you can start your sauce and let it simmer while you make the pasta. I just made a basic tomato rose sauce, but do what you’re in the mood for; the possibilities are endless!

To make the dough, in a glass bowl, mix the flour and salt. Create a well in the center and add your eggs. With a fork, whisk the eggs together until the yolks are broken. Little by little, add some flour into the eggs. Keep doing this a little at the time until it has formed a dough. Once this forms, you can take it out of the bowl and onto a floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Divide the dough into about 4 or 5 equal sections. One by one, shape them with your thumbs into a rectangle shape. Put through the pasta roller attachment to your mixer or through a crank pasta roller on the first setting ( the largest thickness). Now, fold the left third of the dough to the center, and fold the right third over as well. Put through the pasta roller on the second setting (getting a little bit thinner). Now if it is a good rectangle shape, you can go to the third setting; if not, repeat the last step. If your dough begins to stick, simply add a sprinkle of flour. I went until about the fifth setting of the pasta roller, it should be thin enough you can see your hand through it but not too thin as it will break. Repeat this with all of the sections of dough; should look like the picture below.

Now, a sheet at a time, place a small scoop of the filling on the dough and go down the sheet, keeping about 1/2 inch from the bottom and 3/4 inches apart. Put some water on your fingers and trace the bottom of the sheet of the pasta and in between each scoop of filling; this helps the dough stick together.

Fold the top part of the sheet over the filling. Now one at a time, cup your fingers over the parts that have the filling and press out all of the air. Seal them one at a time, pressing the bottom part of the pasta last. Then cut in between each one and press all of the edges with your fingers to ensure they will not come apart when cooking.

Place a bunch at a time in a pot of boiling, salted water and cook until al dente. Once they start to float, give it about one or two more minutes and that should be good. Transfer the cooked pasta to your sauce, top with some grated parmigiano and buon appetito a tutti!