homemade ravioli... semi-fail

i tried.  i put forth a good effort.  it wasnt a total fail but it wasnt a success either... 

so, ive had this pasta maker for a good year now.  this was the first time i used it :)  it was much easier than i thought it would be but having an extra pair of hands would have been nice when rolling out the sheets of dough.

ravioli ingredients

4 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup water

filling ingredients

1 green pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon basil

1 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes, drained WELL

1 egg

(ok, the filling ingredients were just random things i had around the kitchen.  i didnt follow a certain recipe)

1. in an electric mixer, first mix together eggs and gradually add flour and water.  continue mixing until formed into a ball.  on a lightly floured surface, form the dough into a ball and kneed until elastic and smooth.  set aside in a covered bowl.

2. in a small bowl, combine filling ingredients.  make sure all ingredients are drained well or it will make your ravioli slimy and impossible.  (trust me) :) 

3. take dough and divide it in half and divide in half again.  take each section and make into a rectangle.  

4. on the widest setting, roll each rectangle through the pasta machine 3 or 4 times. 

 

5. dust the counter with flour before laying out sheets of dough.  brush each sheet with an egg wash.   (oops, forgot to mention youll need another egg for that.  i added just a little milk also)

6. ok, so this is the part that got tricky for me and where i slowly started failing.  my filling wasnt drained as well as i thought it was.  i (literally) did step 5 and 6 four times.  you take a tablespoon full of filling and drop it on half of the sheet of dough.  space out each tablespoon of filling about 2 inches apart and then fold over the other half of the dough to cover the filling.  note: there are no pictures of this process.  this part turned into a disaster for me and i was so messy and frustrated that i couldnt pick up the camera.  i ended up scraping off the filling and having to reroll the dough because the filling wasnt drained enough, it was a big sloppy mess.  

(fyi - this is what its supposed to look like)

7.  this is how mine turned out.

no, not horrible but not how i wanted them to turn out.  

8. cook the ravioli in boiling water for 10-15 mins.  

i chose an alfredo sauce and honestly, they werent too bad.  since they were enormous, i only ate two.  maybe i will know better next time and be able to make these with a little more ease.  

(hahaha, yeah... right)