Someone Loves Her Husband

Saturday is Will's birthday. The big 3-9! I can't believe next year I'll be married to a 40 year old. Crazy. But, I digress...

For his birthday dinner, Will requested homemade ravioli. My sisters and I made some earlier in the year, but he had to miss the dinner. I, of course, brought him some leftovers, and he commented that it would make a great birthday dinner. And, because I love my husband, I said yes. And I invited his family over, so I need a lot of ravioli. Today, I made it (mostly) while Ethan was at school, and I thought it would be fun to document it in pictures. It's not difficult, just time consuming. But I had a glass of eggnog and some Christmas music going, so I had fun.

Here is the egg and flour "volcano." For a pound of pasta dough, you have 2 1/2 cups of flour for 3 eggs. I doubled it and then ended up making another pound later, too. I wanted to be sure there was enough for everyone (and hopefully some leftovers).

After incorporating the eggs and flour slowly, you knead it into a dough, adding water if too dry or more flour if too moist. You knead it until the color and texture is consistent.
The dough needs to rest for 10-15 minutes. While it rests, I made the filling, which is made up ricotta cheese, romano cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, and eggs. I used two pounds of ricotta and had plenty to fill 30 large ravioli. I have at least a pound left to fill manicotti shells.

Once the dough is done resting, you cut pieces off of it about 1/4 inch thick. Then, you put it through the rollers on the highest number (seven on my pasta machine). You flour the strips in between and then keep moving the number down (causing the rollers to get closer together) until the strip reaches your desired thickness. For ravioli, I only go down one number to six.

Ethan was my helper for my extra batch. He loved turning the handle.

Once the strips have dried a little bit, you trim them to make them uniform and then cut then into rectangles. Each rectangle gets a dollop of the cheese filling.

Fold one side over.

Then press the two sides together with a fork.

Oh, and here is another lovely assistant.

See how her tongue is out? She really wants ravioli, too!

Finished! Well, almost. They need to be cooked and covered in gravy. I'll make the meatballs, sausage, and gravy tomorrow or Friday. Yum! I may be more excited for Will's birthday than him.