How to Make Ravioli: Several Techniques (Food and Crafts for All Occasions)

Here's how I make raviloi.

Divide the dough in several pieces and flatten each to fit the thickest setting of your pasta machine. Keep the dough pieces not used at the moment covered with plastic wrap or kitchen towel so they don’t dry out.

Start rolling the first piece on the thickest setting. My pasta machine has six thickness settings with 1^st being the thickest and 6th the thinnest. After first round, fold the rolled dough sheet in half widthwise and roll again through the same setting starting the folded side. Do it several times until the dough becomes very smooth. Then roll once through the rest of the settings finishing with 5^th thickness setting. To my taste, for ravioli setting 5 will be perfect.

If during the process of rolling a dough sheet gets too long, cut it in half. Or cut it in half at the very end so you’ll get two equal dough sheets for ravioli.

If you use ravioli mold, dust it generously with flour so that ravioli don’t stick and put one pasta sheet on top. Some ravioli molds go with a special plastic or metal rectangular plate with hemisphere protrusions for making pockets. Press it on top of the pasta sheet to make the pockets for a filling.

Fill each pocket with about 1 heaping teaspoon of a filling, slightly brush the dough around the filling with water (omit this step if dough is on a sticky side), and cover with another pasta sheet.

Roll the top with a rolling pin unless ravioli get cut out.

Invert the mold and gently shake to release ravioli. Put them on a floured board, loosely cover with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator until needed. You can freeze them as well. Put them right on a board into a freezer for about an hour or until they become very firm, then transfer to a Ziploc and keep in the freezer.

Note: Don’t forget to dust the mold with flour every time you make a new batch of ravioli! When they stick, they stick. Believe me, been there, done that!

If you don’t have a mold, you can use ravioli cutters which look like round or square stamps with a handle, cookie cutters, zigzag wheel cutter, pizza wheel or a knife. Lay one sheet of pasta on a well floured surface. Put heaping teaspoons of stuffing about 2 inches away from each other or depending on the size of a ravioli cutter.

I usually make two rows, about 5-7 ravioli each.

If the dough is on a dry side, brush it slightly with water around the filling. Cover with another pasta sheet.

With your fingers, gently but thoroughly press the dough to seal between first between the two rows and then between the individual ravioli, leaving the outer end open. Now, gently pressing out the air, seal the outer end (just make sure not to press out the filling).