Homemade Pasta 101: Ravioli & Tortelli

I know I’ve been promising it for a while… And finally, here it is: the next installment in my Homemade Pasta 101 articles, Ravioli & Tortelli!

Let’s get started with a 15 second refresher: Both Ravioli and Tortelli are stuffed pastas. You’ll find Ravioli comes in both squares and circles, as the freezer aisle at your local grocery store can attest to. Ravioli can be stuffed with anything from plain ole’ ricotta, to meats, to butternut squash. What type of sauce you pair with Ravioli depends entirely on the filling. For example beef Ravioli would most likely be paired with a red sauce (Try Marcella’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter). 

Tortelli is a square shaped, filled pasta, that is fairly similar to ravioli. Tortelli hales from Lombardy, Emilia Romagana, and Tuscany. Like Ravioli you will find Tortelli stuffed with all kinds of things, and the sauce choice is usually selected based on filling. Perhaps best known is Tortelli di Parma (Which I did in fact eat when I was in Parma!) which is stuffed with with ricotta, spinach, and sometimes herbs. You’ll probably find Tortelli di Parma served simply with butter and sage. (A recipe for Tortelli in Brown Butter and Sage is coming up in the next post!) 

And that’s really all you need to know, so let’s get right into the pasta making.

Handmade Ravioli or Tortelli– Feeds 4-6. 

Notes: In the interests of not making this a huge post I’ve included detailed instructions on how to form either ravioli using a mould/pasta cutting wheel or tortelli cut by completely with a pasta wheel (you can of course make ravioli without a mould as well); but not of how to make the dough. The dough used in this recipe is the same basic egg dough we covered in Homemade Pasta 101- Basic Egg Dough; if you need help with the dough, the post I just mentioned has step by step photos and detailed directions on how to make and stretch the pasta dough.

Basic Egg Dough: Adapted from: Making Artisan Pasta, by Aliza Green.

• 2 and 3/4 cups 00 pasta flour
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-3 tablespoons tepid water

1. Prepare the pasta dough by sifting the flour and  making the classic mound of flour with a crater with eggs in the center. Whisk the eggs with a fork and then gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs. Add the water one tablespoon at a time until a coarse crumbly dough forms. Work the mixture with your hands for 15-20 minutes. Continue until a smooth dough is formed and bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the dough. Form the dough into a ball and allow the dough to rest in a bowl for 30 minutes. (Again, for photos and detailed instructions see Homemade Pasta 101- Basic Egg Dough.) For either ravioli divide the dough into eight parts, or for tortelli 7 parts; then either by hand with a rolling pin or using a pasta roller to roll out the pasta and form rectangular sheets of pasta about about 4 inches tall X 12 inches long for ravioli –OR- 5 inches tall X 15 inches long for tortelli. Pasta sheets for both ravioli and tortelli should be about  1/16th of an inch thick. Note: If your pasta mould happens to be a different size you will want to size your pasta sheets to fit.

Beef Ravioli (Made using a mould)

• 2 tablespooons butter
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 tablespoon bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 ounce prosciutto, finnly chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Add butter, minced onion, and garlic to a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté until onion is translucent. Add the ground beef to the pan, and cook until meat is browned and fully cooked though. Transfer the meat to a food processor and pulse until crumbled fine. Transfer the meat to a bowl and allow to cool. Once cool add the bread crumbs, Parmigiano Reggiano, prosciutto, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and egg and mix together.
2. Prepare a place for the completed tortelli by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dusting with flour. 
3. Drape a prepared sheet of pasta about 4in X 12in, over the raised side of the pasta mould. Gently use the indented tray to press the dough deeper into the mould. Remove the indented tray and fill the recesses with scoops of the beef filling. You will need a tablespoon to a tablespoon and a half of filling for each recess. 
4. Place a second sheet of dough over the filling. Seal the two sheets of dough by running a rolling pin over the sheets while it still in the frame. (TIP: Instead of using a rolling pin you can also flip the indented tray so that the indents are facing outward, and use it to press the two sheets of dough together.) Either way push until the lines of the ravioli can be seen through the top layer of dough and the filling is tightly sealed.
5. Flip over the mould to release the ravioli, and use a pasta cutting wheel to completely separate the individual ravioli. Set completed ravioli on the prepared baking tray. Repeat steps 4-5 until all dough and filling have been used. 

Tortelli di Parma (Wheel cut, stuffed with ricotta & spinach)

Tortelli Filling:

• 1 lb. fresh spinach (That’s aprox. 10-12 cups fresh spinach)
• 1 cup ricotta, with excess liquid drained off’ 
• 4 oz fresh grated parmesan reggiano 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 egg 

1. Wash the spinach well, and then shake off excess water. Add the spinach to a large skillet or sauce pan and cook down. Allow the spinach to cool, and drain. Squeeze the spinach to drain off as much water as possible. An overly wet filling will cause the tortelli to fall apart.
2. Add the spinach, ricotta, parmesan reggiano salt, nutmeg and egg to a food processor, pulse lightly to mix well. (TIP: If you don’t want to use a food processor the mixture can be made in a bowl instead. However,  coarsely chop the spinach before cooking to ensure small pieces in the tortelli. Also be sure to stir the ricotta mixture very well, so that all the ingredients combine evenly.)
3. Prepare a place for the completed tortelli by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dusting with flour. 
4. On a lightly floured surface lay out one of the rectangular sheets of pasta. One 5 inches tall X 15 inches long sheet of pasta should make about 12 tortelli. Starting about 1/2 inch in, and 1/2 inch down from the upper left corner of the rectangle spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling  onto the dough. Repeat 11 more times leaving about a 1 inch between each spoon full. (This should look similar to the photo pictured above, there just won’t be a mould underneath the sheet of pasta.)
5. Lay a second sheet of the pasta on top of the first sheet and the filling, lining up the corners. Gently press with your hands around the edges of the pasta sheets and in between the filling so that the together around the  the two sheets seal together. Try to push any excess air trapped inside out the edges while sealing. 
6. Use a pasta cutting wheel with scalloped edges to cut out squares about 2 and 1/2 inches wide, so that the filling sits in the center of the squares. Set completed tortelli on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat steps 4-6 until all dough and filling has been used. 

To Cook Ravioli or Tortelli: 

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a roiling bowl. Add the ravioli or tortelli and stir gently to prevent sticking. Reduce heat to medium high, and cook until the ravioli or tortelli are al dente, tender with a little bit of “tooth”. The ravioli or tortelli will generally float when they are done. Drain and toss with you desired sauce (Try Marcella’s Tomato Sauce for the Ravioli and Brown Butter and Sage for the Tortelli!). Serve hot and garnished with additional cheese.