Honeymoon Ravioli
October 5, 2010 
I have so many recipe files that I've kept over the years, it's amazing to me sometimes. Ever since I was young and really started cooking, I've cut out every little recipe idea that appealed to me. It's fun to go back to those really old files and see what inspired me back then. Sometimes I find something that I absolutely forgot about, like this recipe.
When Brian and I were on our honeymoon (25 years ago) we really didn't have any money. But we splurged one evening and went to an Italian restaurant, where Brian ordered this ravioli with five cheeses. He raved so much about it that when I got home, I contacted Bon Appetit and asked them to get the recipe. I was sent the recipe, hammered out on an old typewriter on a piece of paper. I made the ravioli and then filed the recipe away and totally forgot about it - until I came across it recently and thought it would be nice to make this ravioli again for him. The restaurant is long gone, but it's a timeless recipe.
There are many methods to make ravioli. Using this ravioli mold is one of my favorites. If you don't have a mold, you can make ravioli by using this method instead.
Honeymoon Ravioli (Ravioli with Five Cheeses)
for a printable recipe, click here
makes 50-60 ravioli
helpful equipment: a pastry bag or gallon sized zip lock, a ravioli mold, a rolling pin, a spritz bottle of water, a fluted pastry wheel
Ingredients:
for the pasta:
- 3-1/2 to 3-3/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour or Italian "00" flour (about one pound of flour)
- 6 large eggs
for the filling:
- 2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 ounce Pecorino cheese
- 3 ounces mozzarella cheese
- 2 ounces gorgonzola cheese
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
Instructions:
Make the pasta dough:
In a food processor or KitchenAid mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix most of the flour and the eggs. (You can also just make the dough by hand on a counter or cutting board). Process or mix until blended and keep adding the remainder of the flour until you get a nice dough that is not too sticky. If very sticky, add additional flour by the tablespoon until you get a dough that is not too sticky and not too dry. Form the dough into a ball and knead on a floured counter until smooth. Wrap the dough in a floured piece of plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature. While you are letting it rest, make the filling.
Make the filling:
Place your hard cheeses, the Parmigianno and Pecorino, in a food processor and process until fine. Add the other cheeses, the egg and a pinch of salt and pepper and process until smooth. Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a large tip, with the mixture and refrigerate. (If you don't have a pastry bag, just use a gallon size zip-lock and snip off a little of one corner). You can also simply fill the ravioli with a spoon, without using a pastry bag.
Make the ravioli:
Cut the pasta dough into three pieces. Keep the dough you are not using wrapped. Make sure your pasta rollers are on the #1 setting, the widest. Flatten your piece of dough and run it through the rollers. Flour it, fold it into thirds, and run it through again. Do this three or four times. Set the rollers to #2 and run your dough through that setting. Do not fold dough. Keep running it through the rollers until you get to setting #4 or #5. I usually make my ravioli no thinner than these settings. I find that if the dough is too thin, the ravioli tend to burst when you cook it. If you like thinner dough, use #5. Keep in mind as you are making the pasta sheets, that you want them as wide as possible so that they cover your ravioli mold. (If you are not using a mold, don't worry about that.) Take the sheets of pasta and lay them on a floured countertop. If you are not very speedy and are going to take a while to make the remainder of the sheets, cover the pasta sheets with a towel or plastic wrap, so they don't dry out.
Repeat with remaining dough until you have made all your pasta sheets. If you have a ravioli mold, flour it well. Lay one sheet of pasta on the mold, making sure the entire mold is covered. Take your pastry bag and squeeze out about a tablespoon of filling into each well. Spritz the pasta sheet with a little water. Lay the second sheet on top and run a rolling pin over to seal. Turn the mold over and release the ravioli. They will not be separated. Use a fluted pastry wheel to cut apart. Lay the ravioli on a floured baking pan and continue making ravioli until you've used all the pasta sheets.
You can store the ravioli on baking sheets in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Cover with plastic wrap. You can also freeze them on baking sheets and then stick them in zip locks. To cook after being frozen, do not defrost first.
To cook: Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli in batches of about a dozen at a time. Bring the water back to a gentle simmer and cook for about 3-4 minutes. (If ravioli is frozen, cook about a minute more). Remove with a slotted spoon or handled strainer to a serving dish . Continue cooking the remainder of ravioli. Serve with any sauce you like. Just some butter, olive oil,sea salt and chopped herbs is simple and delicious, too.
This week I will be going to San Francisco to attend BlogHer Food 2010. It's sold out again this year and should be an incredible conference with about 300 food bloggers attending. There's going to be some very fun parties, some great speakers and some incredible food to eat. Are you going? Can't wait to see you!
Reader Comments (31)
oh great story!! i love when food memories take us back to the special moments in our lives. so sweet that as a newlywed you hunted down the recipe for your hubbie.
these sound simple yet fantastic- as is most great italian food!
cant wait to see your posts after next week- ENJOY
I do have one of those ravioli molds!
The filling of five cheeses sounds delicious. I'm thinking Marcella's sauce with butter, onion, and tomatoes would be delicious on them.
I will be making this recipe very soon, and I'm just sorry that the home-grown arugula is done for the season. A salad made with that would be a good complement.
Oh I love the gorgonzola addition, must try that! We have been on the same ravioli wave length, last week I made 4 different kinds, butternut squash, spinach and artichoke, meat and cheese, my kitchen was beyond recognition at the end of the day!
Have a fun trip Elaine, take lots of photos so we can see!
Thanks for this wonderful story. I came across your site about a year ago and just love it!
Its amazing how food brings back all those long forgotten memories!
I don't know why but I just don't like the taste of ricotta cheese :-( The grainy texture throws me off! Is thr a way I can make raviolis without adding ricotta? How abt cottage cheese?
I made the mistake once of letting my raviolis thaw - big mistake! I'm pretty slow when it comes to hand made pasta, so placing a damp paper towel over the dough while waiting is something not to be overlooked. I love homemade pasta- just wish it didn't take so long!
Your pictures always inspire me to try new things... they're so beautiful and always leave me craving whatever you post! I love ravioli and have always been intimidated to try making it from scratch, but I hope to try this out soon! Thanks for the great idea and recipe!
I loved this, Elaine. Food memories mixed with romance are the best! And I'm getting myself one of these ravioli molds! No more cutting them out by hand! Thanks!
From The Italian Dish:
Amy: Can't wait to post about BlogHer Food San Francisco!
Victoria: Marcella's sauce would be just perfect for this.
Marie: You always amaze me with what you do in your kitchen!
Lauri: Thank you!
Prerna: In this recipe, you process the ricotta cheese in the food processor. It makes it very smooth and velvety and takes away the grittiness - try it!
Liz: Good lesson learned. Just take frozen ravioli and drop right into the simmering water. And as you make more homemade pasta, you will get faster.
Chelsea: Thank you for the kind words about my blog.
Patrice: Thank you. You will have fun with your new ravioli mold.
I am not honeymooning but just for this pasta, I am going to ask my husband for another honeymoon :-) and then go for gym-moon as eating 5 cheeses will add extra pounds too. Looks so yummy! loved the story.
mmmm, this looks delightful. I know that my Brian will enjoy these too. thanks for sharing your story and your recipe.
Those look perfect! Fresh pasta is one of my favourite things to make.
These are on my cooking to-do list - I just got a hand cranked pasta machine, and your post is the exact thing I was looking for: a pictorial with recipe. I think I'll start with noodles first, and work my way up to this. Love your recipes and photos. Happy cooking.
Your post is really interesting and the ravioli looks really delicious. Ravioli is one of my favourite pasta... would love to make it at home.
Elaine so glad that I was able to meet you tonight. Your site is beautiful. If you are ever in Grand Rapids please look me up I would love to show you some good eats in town. Many Blessings, Sheila
your story is poignant and sentimental, your photos are delicious and your smile, personality and positive personality is something I will carry with me always! loved meeting you! x
From The Italian Dish:
Sheila: I was so glad to meet another Michigander at the conference! Hope we can get together sometime.
Susan: I had a great time talking with you - you were so interesting. Hope our paths cross again!
Fantastic post. Growing up we had a next door neighbor fro Genoa and she made fresh pasta every week (my parents were born in Calabria, at the tip of the boot and they do more dry pasta in the South). One highlight of my childhood was going to our neighbor's house to help with ravioli making and our neighbor, Amelia, used the same mold highlighted in your post!
Best,
Vince from Scordo.com
I have that mold and use it all the time! I now use Farmer's Cheese instead of Ricotta cheese as I can buy a smaller amount of the Farmer's. My ravioli's come out very tasty indeedy!
Well, I got myself a ravioli mold and it cut my assembly time in HALF! Thanks for the great post, Elaine.
Wow! These look awesome! I have never attempted a recipe like this but my husband assures me that together we can pull it off. I'm a little scared but your photos are most helpful. We will attempt it soon and then post back on how it went! :)
I would like to purchase the kitchen aid past attachment set, but I am not sure of what to get. I realize you have to have the sheet roller.
There are 3 different sets you can buy:
KPRA:Pasta sheet roller, Fettuccine cutter, Spaghetti/linguine cutter for $170 (the main one I am thinking of purchasing)
KPCA Pasta Cutter Companion Set: Angel hair pasta cutter and thick noodle cutter for $115
KRAV Ravioli Maker for $150
or you can buy all 6 pieces together, but it's very pricey. KitchenAid KPEX Pasta Excellence Set Attachment Pack for $370
Being a first time pasta maker, should I start out with the Marcato Atlas for $70.00? Is the KitchenAid ravioli attachment any good? Not sure if I even need the companion set? Thank you so much for the input! I love your blog, I can't wait to try some of your recipes. I made homemade ricotta today and it was awesome! Thanks again!
~JJ
From The Italian Dish:
Jessica: You need to start out with the set that contains the rollers, fettuccine cutter and spaghetti cutter. Then decide if you want the Companion set for angel hair and a thicker noodle. I have tried the ravioli cutter and did not like it at all. I still prefer to make ravioli using a mold (see my ravioli posts). As for the Atlas machine, that is the cheapest way to go but I can tell you that having the KitchenAid mixer "crank" the handle for you is priceless. I can make pasta so fast that way and it is so much easier having that "third hand" that I never use my Atlas machine any more. But this is a personal preference. Most people who get the KitchenAid roller and attachments do not regret it! Have fun.
Dear Elaine,
Thanks so much for the reply! I found a "knock off" Atlas at a kitchen store that I am going to try out as a "starter kit". My husband said that he would help me crank and be the third arm. Over time I think I will work my way up to the kitchen aid if I end up making lots of pasta. Thanks again!
You mentioned your family recipe for cream cheese ravioli. Could you share this recipe with your readers? I came across this web site by accident, so glad I did. The pictures look wonderful!!
Thanks, Italian Dish!!
Carolyn
I have just started making my own pasta dough this week, thank you so much for this recipe and detailed instructions :)
I really like your post. I got a Kitchen Aid pasta roller for Christmas and decided to try your recipe for the first time using it. We really enjoyed the filling and I think I did pretty good for the first time. I don't have a mold I'm not sure if it would make it a lot easier and faster?
I really like your post. I got a Kitchen Aid pasta roller for Christmas and decided to try your recipe for the first time using it. We really enjoyed the filling and I think I did pretty good for the first time. I don't have a mold I'm not sure if it would make it a lot easier and faster?
That was fantastic recipe thanks to the author
I made that at home and all my family really like
I was so happy with the results
Hi,
I am new for cooking, I want to give a try for this recipe it's sounds yummy. Just one question, I am allergic to egg, which other thing can replace egg for making dough in lasagna and in this recipe as well.
Elaine,
This recipe sounds very good, I will try it. My Grandmother was from Abruzzi, Rivisondoli, Italy. She made ravioli with a ricotta cheese filling, and added a few yellow raisins to each. I believe she used a touch of nutmeg. Have you ever come across a recipe anything like it. It was a wonderful creamy, melt in your mouth, delicious ravioli. Any recipe similar would be appreciated.