Homemade Pasta

Picture is terrible, but I only had my phone to work with!

I have never attempted to make homemade pasta. It always seemed like such a daunting task. Temperamental dough, a stand mixer with pasta attachment, a big floured mess in the kitchen. It's just too big of a commitment for one dinner. That is until yesterday, when I saw an episode of Everyday Italian. Giada created this almost impossibly easy pasta recipe for her Ravioli Caprese. I have to tell you that as soon I saw the show, I was at the computer printing out the recipe.

Luckily, we were at mom and dad's (house sitting again), and she had all the ingredients on hand. Dinner is so much easier to prepare when you don't have to go to the store. This ravioli is so light and fresh that it screams spring. This is definitely a close second to my favorite French pasta. Next time, though, I will make two recipes so we can have it for leftovers the next day. Yeah, it's that good.

Ravioli Caprese
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Dough
2 1/2 cup flour
1 cup very hot water

Filling
3/4 cup fat free ricotta
1 egg
2 tbs. fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Sauce
3 tbs. really good extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs. fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
zest from 1 lemon
Salt & pepper

For the dough:
In a large bowl, combine flour and hot water. Using a wooden spoon, mix ingredients until you form a large ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.

For the filling:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

To form the ravioli, cut dough ball into four even pieces. Leave one on your floured board, and wrap plastic around the other three. Form the piece into a 2x6" rectangle. Flour a rolling pin and roll it out to a 4x14" rectangle about 1/8" thick. Place 7 teaspoons of filling about 1 inch apart down the middle of the rectangle. Fold dough over filling and seal with your fingertips. Using a ravioli cutter, cut the pasta into rounded squares making sure each side is sealed. Place finished ravioli on a baking sheet.

In a big bowl, make the sauce. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and salt. Add the ravioli and cook over medium high heat until they float, about 3-4 minutes. Using a spider, transfer hot ravioli to the bowl with the sauce. Toss ravioli in sauce and serve immediately topped with fresh black pepper and parmesan cheese.