This Ricotta Ravioli Recipe Is A Homemade Italian Classic

This Ricotta Ravioli recipe is an amazing Italian classic that relies on homemade pasta, cheese filling and your favorite sauce to burst with flavor!

If you just bought a pasta machine, and I strongly recommend doing that, you are probably looking for some interesting Italian pasta recipes on which to get started. This is a great recipe for homemade ravioli that isn’t too difficult but has great flavors that pair well with a wide range of sauces.

Pasta Maker	Gnocchi Board	Pasta Board	Ravioli Maker
Ravioli Press/Stamper	Ricer	Bialetti Pasta Pot	Bamboo Cutting Board Set of 3
Silpat Baking Mat	Santoku Knife	Measuring Cups and Spoons	Stainless Mixing Bowls
Dutch Oven	Mesh Strainers	Stainless Colander	Stainless Steel Fry Pan

Ricotta Ravioli Recipe Recommendations

The Importance Of Ricotta Cheese

If you read recipes online, you will undoubtedly find recipes that suggest substituting ricotta cheese with cottage cheese. This is a bad decision because not only are they two very different types of cheeses, but also because their flavors are NOT substitutable. When I say they are two different types of cheeses, I’m specifically referring to the fact that cottage cheese is made from the curds and ricotta (which means “recooked” ) is made from boiling down the whey. These are two different parts of the separated milk and they are not substitutes.

One thing I did just learn about ricotta cheese is that these can come from different animals, so when my Cheese Monger (i.e. the guy behind the cheese counter in my local store) asked me if I would prefer cow or sheep’s milk cheese. I was unprepared for this, so I asked him which was more flavorful and his answer was the sheep’s milk cheese, so I went with that. In actuality, I was trying to ask him which was more traditional, but I stumbled over my weak language skills and his help was welcomed, if not exactly what I was trying to say.

How To Make Ricotta Ravioli From Scratch

Cheese Filling Preparation Thoughts

You might have noticed in the pictures that it looks like the amount of cheese filling is a little low for these ravioli. I used a measuring teaspoon to ensure that there was a consistent amount of cheese filling in each homemade ravioli, and the other concern is that they would securely close.

One of the biggest risks when making ravioli is that they open up during cooking. The two ways to prevent this is to remove any air between the layers of pasta and to wet the edges of the pasta sheets to make sure the top and bottom sheet bind well. I was too cautious and underfilled the ravioli, which left me with quite a bit of filling left after the pasta was used up. Try using a tablespoon of filling to get a fuller ravioli.

Cheese Filling Variations

A popular variation of this ricotta ravioli is to add spinach to the cheese mixture. I left this out because I don’t like spinach and I really like ricotta cheese, but if you are interested, you could add some spinach. If you use fresh spinach, which I recommend, you should boil the leaves in salted water until they wilt. Drain the spinach and dry the leaves, then use a blender or food processor to finely chop the leaves. Then add the spinach to the cheese mixture.

Suggestion For Rolling Out The Pasta

When you roll out the pasta, there are various thicknesses of the pasta that you can use, but you will need to keep in mind that the final thickness will be doubled up because of the top and bottom half of the ravioli. You don’t want to leave the pasta too thick because the final product will be too chewy, and if you roll it too thin, you might split them open when cooking. I used the second thinnest setting, which is 6 out of 7 on my machine. Check out my post for more information on the Marcato Atlas 150, the best pasta maker you can buy.

Ricotta Ravioli Recipe

• Difficulty: Medium
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Servings: 6

Ricotta Ravioli Ingredients

For Pasta

• 5.5 ounces (150 grams) of “00” Flour
• 5.5 ounces (150 grams) of re-milled Semolina (Durum Wheat) Flour
• 3 Large Eggs

For The Stuffing

• 18 ounces (500 grams) of Ricotta Cheese 
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1.5 ounces (40 grams) of grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
• Salt and Pepper To Taste

For The Sauce

• 2 ounces (50 grams) of Salted Butter
• Sage leaves
• 3 ounces (70 grams) of grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

Ricotta Ravioli Cooking Instructions

1. To create the pasta dough, pour the flours into a pile on the work surface, break the eggs in the center, beat with a fork, gradually incorporating the flours and knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, until it is smooth and homogeneous. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, salt and pepper to taste (2 teaspoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of pepper) to create the filling.
3. After letting the pasta rest, use a pasta machine to roll out the dough into a long, thin sheet. Once you reach a thin pasta sheet, cut it in half, one sheet is for the bottom and the other for the top of the ravioli.
4. Using a tablespoon for an even amount, add a spoonful of the cheese filling to the pasta with enough space between the drops to keep the ravioli separate.
5. When a row of ravioli bottoms is ready, very lightly add water to the edge of the pasta. Using the other sheet of pasta, close the dough over the filling while making sure you remove any air between the layers.
6. Cut out the ravioli and set on a floured baking sheet. Any trimmed pasta pieces that do not have cheese on them can be added back to the remaining pile of pasta and re-used.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 until either the pasta or filling are gone.
8. Cook the ravioli in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes. 
9. Drain the ravioli and set them aside..
10. Sautè the Sage in the butter until lightly browned.
11. Add the cooked ravioli to the butter and sage. When plating the pasta, add cheese to the top.

What To Serve With Ricotta Ravioli?

The variations for serving these ravioli are centered on the sauces that you use. The above recipe uses a Brown Butter Sage Sauce for ravioli, and this is a great place to start, but you can use as an alternative, a tomato sauce like this Neapolitan Ragù Recipe, or even this authentic Italian Pesto recipe.

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