Cheese Ravioli with Red Pepper Tomato Sauce
Homemade Cheese Ravioli made from scratch. The most delicious fresh pasta you'll ever taste!
Prep Time1 hour hr
Cook Time40 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 40 minutes mins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: cheese, cheese ravioli, Dinner, Italian, pasta, ravioli, red pepper sauce
Servings: 4 to 6 servings, about 30 ravioli
Calories: 584kcal
For The Sauce:
- 28 oz. can plum tomatoes
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped coarsely
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- 2 onions chopped coarsely
- 1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
For the filling:
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 oz. mozzarella grated coarse
- 1/2 cup ricotta
- 2 Tbsp. snipped fresh chives
Pasta Dough
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs beaten lightly
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. water plus additional if necessary
For Serving
- Chives for garnish
- Parmesan for garnish
To Make The Pasta Dough
In a Food Processor, blend flour, eggs, oil, and 1 1/2 Tbsp. water until the mixture just begins to form a ball. Add additional water, drop by drop, if the dough is too dry. Dough should be firm and not sticky. Blend dough for 15 seconds more to knead and let stand, covered with a tea towel and an inverted bowl for one hour at room temperature. Yield: 1 lb
To Make The Sauce:
While the dough is resting, make the sauce. In a saucepan, combine the tomatoes with their juice, bell pepper, garlic, onions, and stock, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce and simmer the mixture covered, stirring occasionally for 30-40 min. or until vegetables are very tender.
Using a handheld blender, puree the ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until the sauce has reduced and is thickened.
Rolling out the dough:
With a pasta machine starting on the widest setting, put 1/3 of your dough through the machine. Add a sprinkling of flour to one side, fold in half, and put the dough through the pasta machine again. Adjust the pasta machine to one size smaller and run the dough through. Continue to adjust the machine smaller and smaller until you reach the desired thickness for your dough. It should be thin enough to see the outline of your hand through the dough, about 1/32 inch thick.
(If you are not using a ravioli maker, see note below) Using a ravioli maker, drape the rolled pasta dough over the base of the ravioli maker. Firmly press the rounded form into the dough to create wells for the cheese filling. Scoop a rounded teaspoon of the three cheese filling into each of the wells.
Drape another sheet of rolled dough on top of the filled layer and press a rolling pin firmly along the top to seal the ravioli. Turn the form over and gently tap the dough out onto your lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or a ravioli cutter wheel, cut the ravioli into squares.
Repeat the process with the remaining pasta dough and filling.
Finishing the Ravioli
Working in batches, place 6-9 ravioli packets in well-salted boiling water for approximately 6 minutes; using a slotted spoon, remove to a plate. I use a paper towel to dab up any excess water from the plate; continue in this manner until all the pasta packets are cooked. Place 4-5 ravioli per plate and top with sauce, Parmesan cheese, and chives. Delicious!!
If you are not using a ravioli maker, assemble the ravioli as follows:
Lightly flour your counter and lay the dough out flat. Place a rounded teaspoon-sized amount of your cheese filling approximately 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart all the way along with the bottom third of the dough. Lightly moisten all the edges of the dough, and in between each dollop of filling, with water and fold the dough in half over the filling.
Seal all the edges around each mound, then using a pizza cutter or knife, cut between each cheese packet. Place each one on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with a slightly damp tea towel. Continue with the remaining 2/3s of the pasta dough in the same manner.
Serving: 1 | Calories: 584kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 158mg | Sodium: 797mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 10g