Over the years, my family has created a tradition centered around making homemade pasta on Christmas day. This has morphed into making piles of light-as-air beef ravioli and truly the best cheese ravioli starting with my Gram’s homemade ravioli dough recipe.
Sure, we could buy store-bought ravioli, but that wouldn’t offer the same experience. Besides, this is an easy ravioli dough that comes together in 30 minutes.
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What’s the difference between ravioli dough and pasta dough?
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The main difference between this ravioli dough and homemade pasta dough is comes down to one thing:
Flour.
This ravioli dough recipe calls for “00” flour (sometimes labeled as pizza flour) because it makes a beautiful ravioli dough that is easy to work with and is sturdy to support the fillings without bursting.
“00” flour is a super finely milled, whole wheat durum flour. Think of it as the confectioner’s sugar of flour…it’s that fine and silky. My pasta dough recipe also includes semolina flour which adds a little more sandy texture.
Step by step instructions to make ravioli dough by hand
Your objective is a soft, smooth ball that is a touch sticky. This is a “feel” thing that can change with the weather and humidity in your house. For more info on that, visit my homemade pasta dough recipe.
Lightly flour the dough and board. Allow the dough to relax, covered with a damp dish towel or wrapped in plastic wrap for 15-20 minutes.
Pasta machine setting for ravioli
I use my Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment (as I am here) but also have a hand crank pasta machine (the Marcato Atlas is my favorite).
Use your pasta roller to thinly roll the ravioli dough to setting #6. Regardless of method, you should be able to see a shadow of your hand through the dough.
Lay the length of dough onto a floured surface (clean table, board or countertop).
Ravioli dough cutting and filling methods
…with a stamp
Find the center of the long side of the dough. You’ll fill one half and use the other half to cover the filled ravioli.
Mark the dough using the ravioli stamp (loooove this one especially). This will help you to know where to place the filling.
…with a mold
I love a ravioli mold with a roller that allows the ravioli to be filled and then cut. These make a dozen ravioli at a time.
…and my favorite ravioli cutting tool
A plain old ribbon edged pastry cutter. At all of our ravioli parties, we have found it to be the most reliable and adds a homespun, grandma feel.
How to fill ravioli that doesn’t burst
Think of ravioli dough as the supporting lead to the star which is the filling. It has to be strong enough to hold the filling inside, yet delicate enough to be tender for the perfect bite.
Here’s how to do it, step by step,,,
- Place up to a tablespoon of ravioli filling in the center of each marked ravioli or spaced evenly along the piece of dough.
- Use a pastry brush to brush water around the outside edge of each ravioli.
- Pull the half of the dough over the filled side.
- Use two fingers to pat firmly and gently around the filling sealing the ravioli as you go, brushing the air pockets out at the same time.
Ravioli Cooking Tips
- Add ravioli to boiling water that has been generously seasoned with kosher salt.
- Once the ravioli floats to the top again a second time, cook it in bubbling water for 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the ravioli carefully with a chinese spider or large slotted spoon to a warmed bowl.
- Don’t pour ravioli into a strainer as you risk the ravioli breaking.
Ravioli sauce ideas
Some of us are devotees of topping our “ravs” (as the younger set calls them) with tomato sauce with butter and onion and others love my oh-so-good, light yet rich butter and cream sauce.
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30 Minute Homemade Ravioli Dough
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Equipment
- 1 Kitchenaid Pasta Attachment and Pasta Cutter helpful but not required
Ingredients
- 4 cups "00" flour, I use King Arthur's 00 Flour
- 1 ¼ cup warm water, reserve ¼ cup to use as needed
- 1 egg and 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pour the flour tossed with the salt on a wooden cutting board or clean countertop and make a well in the middle.4 cups "00" flour, 1 tsp salt
- Add the whole eggs along with the egg yolks to the center.1 egg and 2 egg yolks
- Use a fork to gently mix the eggs pulling in flour a little at a time. Work your way around the middle pulling flour in until most of the flour is incorporated. Start by adding ¼ cup of water to the flour. Now add a little more flour. Keep adding water and flour until a ball is made. It’s ok if you don’t use all the flour and water.1 ¼ cup warm water
- Knead the dough until smooth by rolling by pulling it towards you, make a quarter turn, and push it away.
- Your objective is a soft, smooth ball that is a touch sticky. This is a “feel” thing that can change with the weather and humidity in your house. For more info on that, visit my homemade pasta dough recipe.
- Lightly flour the dough and board. Allow the dough to relax, covered with a damp dish towel or wrapped in plastic wrap for 15-20 minutes.
- Cut the dough into quarters. Remove one quarter and wrap or cover the rest so as to not dry out. Flatten and shape the dough into a rectangle that almost as wide as the roller bars, about ½” less on each side.
- If using a pasta attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer, turn on the mixer to low. Turn the on roller setting on the far right to #1 (the widest).
- Place the shortest side of the flattened dough into the roller and run it through on “1” two times. Fold the dough (called “booking”) by bringing each short to meet in the middle. Turn the dough and now run it through at setting “2”.
- Keep running the dough through the roller increasing the setting until the dough is thin enough to see the shadow of your hand through the dough when holding a piece of dough upright. On my roller, it’s setting 6.
To Fill and Cut Ravioli
- Lay the length of dough onto a floured surface (clean table, board or countertop).
- Find the center of the long side of the dough. You’ll fill one half and use the other half to cover the filled ravioli.Mark the dough using the ravioli stamp (loooove this one especially). This will help you to know where to place the filling.
- Using a small spoon, place up to 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each ravioli “stamp”.
- Use a pastry brush to brush water around the outside edge of each ravioli.
- Pull the half of the dough over the filled side.
- Use two fingers to pat the dough firmly and gently around the filling sealing the ravioli as you go, pressing the air pockets out at the same time. Don't skip this step to avoid the ravioli from bursting open.
- Stamp out each ravioli by flouring the cutter and pressing firmly through the dough, jiggling the cutter back and forth until the ravioli is cut on all sides.
Cooking Instructions
- Remove ravioli to a floured baking sheet or clean surface. Cover with a dish towel and refrigerate if cooking later in the day. In lightly boiling. heavily salted water (kosher salt), cook the ravioli for 3-5 minutes until the ravioli floats.
Perfect pasta for ravioli! This is definitely my new go-to! Thank you so much!
So glad you liked the ravioli dough Nicky! Thank you 😊
Sounds great
Approximately how many raviolis do you get with one recipe? And if you double it doesn’t double the eggs?
I get approximately 90 ravioli per one batch of dough depending on how large you cut or the size of your mold/stamp. Hope that helps!
When you are saying it doesn’t double the egg, do you mean the automated tool in the recipe card? If so, that is incorrect and yes, double the egg. Thank you for asking and I’ll take a look at that😊
Your recipe has all the little steps to make a delicious ravioli. Thank you.😍
Beverly, you made my day! Thank you so much and I’m so pleased you enjoyed the ravioli dough.
Do you book the pasta for each setting, or just on 1 and 2?
Hi Josée! Sorry for any confusion…I book for 1 and sometimes 2. Depends on the weather and the texture of the dough. It’s more to just even out the sides to be straight. Hope that helps!
You said you use semolina but the. You don’t list it in the ingredients. How much semolina or is it not necessary.
Hi Meslie! In the post, I reference the difference between ravioli dough and my pasta dough which has semolina flour in it. The ravioli dough recipe does not have it.Hope that helps!
Never made it before. Instructions very clear and easy to follow.
There were delicious.
Thanks Lynda! So glad you liked the recipe and the ravioli – and if you get a chance, I’d love to hear what filling/kind you made.
We used your Ricotta filling and this ravioli dough and had the most amazing Italian dinner. We truly love all your recipes, you are the real deal Italian Chef for sure!!
Blushing here Susie! Thank you – so happy you loved the dough and cheese rav filling. It’s our family fav for sure!!