I got in a fight today. A knock down, drag out fight. I threw a few punches. I nearly cried. I was sore after. I let my rival rest for a bit before the second round, then I really let him have it. He ended up so stretched thin that he had to roll over and surrender. I am proud to call myself victor over that damn ravioli dough.
It seemed like a simple enough recipe: flour, salt, eggs, olive oil. I can count the ingredients on one hand - there was nothing else. But, wow - how near I came to defeat!
I hit an immediate wall of frustration and blamed everything in sight: my dough hook let me down, the recipe let me down, the flour (how long ago did we buy that?) let me down. Even before I started to knead the dough I was concocting a backup plan: wonton wrappers, fresh lasagne noodles from Spinelli's contorted into shape, butternut squash shells?
Somehow I coaxed my obstinate self on long enough to arrive at the resting period - after 10 minutes of getting the dough to the utterly unachievable "elastic and smooth" state, cheating by adding surplus dabs of oil here and there, I said "f this", wrapped it in plastic wrap and sent it to the other corner of the ring. It rested. In fact it dozed a bit too long, but I needed a break - time to collect my thoughts and regroup.
I won't go so far as to say it was perfect, but seeing that dough ribbon its way through the pasta maker made my heart sing. Thanks for coming through for me, dough ball - now I know. Trust the process.
In case you're wondering...
Tough But Worth It Ravioli Dough
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs (plus one for egg wash)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
In a stand mixer, combine flour and salt with a dough hook attachment.
Add eggs one at a time, combining completely.
Drizzle in 1 Tbsp. olive oil, and continue to mix until the dough forms a ball. (This never happened for me, so I moved on to the next step)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and fold/knead for 10 minutes (this sucks, and you'll probably feel certain you're a failure as your shaggy dough crumbles in front of your eyes)
Once you've stared at the clock and thought over and over again, "is my 10 minutes up?", smash the dough into a disc, brush the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil on it, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (shut up and do it)
Remove 1/3 of the dough ball and keep the rest wrapped until you need it so it doesn't dry out
Using a roller, flatten the dough into a rectangular shape thin enough to run through your pasta maker on the widest setting. Run it through, moving to narrower settings, until you get to about 1/8" thickness
Create an egg wash with 1 egg plus 1 Tbsp cold water, brush it on the pasta, fill with something delicious and seal well (I sautéed shallots and butternut squash puree, then added salt, pepper, cream and parmesan cheese for mine)
Cook in boiling water 2-4 minutes, remove, and toss with a brown butter sage sauce
 |
| sweet success |
I hit an immediate wall of frustration and blamed everything in sight: my dough hook let me down, the recipe let me down, the flour (how long ago did we buy that?) let me down. Even before I started to knead the dough I was concocting a backup plan: wonton wrappers, fresh lasagne noodles from Spinelli's contorted into shape, butternut squash shells?
Somehow I coaxed my obstinate self on long enough to arrive at the resting period - after 10 minutes of getting the dough to the utterly unachievable "elastic and smooth" state, cheating by adding surplus dabs of oil here and there, I said "f this", wrapped it in plastic wrap and sent it to the other corner of the ring. It rested. In fact it dozed a bit too long, but I needed a break - time to collect my thoughts and regroup.
I won't go so far as to say it was perfect, but seeing that dough ribbon its way through the pasta maker made my heart sing. Thanks for coming through for me, dough ball - now I know. Trust the process.
In case you're wondering...Tough But Worth It Ravioli Dough
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs (plus one for egg wash)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
In a stand mixer, combine flour and salt with a dough hook attachment.
Add eggs one at a time, combining completely.
Drizzle in 1 Tbsp. olive oil, and continue to mix until the dough forms a ball. (This never happened for me, so I moved on to the next step)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and fold/knead for 10 minutes (this sucks, and you'll probably feel certain you're a failure as your shaggy dough crumbles in front of your eyes)Once you've stared at the clock and thought over and over again, "is my 10 minutes up?", smash the dough into a disc, brush the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil on it, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (shut up and do it)
Remove 1/3 of the dough ball and keep the rest wrapped until you need it so it doesn't dry out
Using a roller, flatten the dough into a rectangular shape thin enough to run through your pasta maker on the widest setting. Run it through, moving to narrower settings, until you get to about 1/8" thicknessCreate an egg wash with 1 egg plus 1 Tbsp cold water, brush it on the pasta, fill with something delicious and seal well (I sautéed shallots and butternut squash puree, then added salt, pepper, cream and parmesan cheese for mine)
Cook in boiling water 2-4 minutes, remove, and toss with a brown butter sage sauce
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