Ravioli

Once October hits, the setting sun enters the kitchen in the back of the house precisely as I tie my apron strings. The warm orange glow creates an ethereal mood throughout the entire kitchen as it bounces from the bright counter tops and creates illuminated lines over the cabinetry. It was under such conditions I have had the great joy of preparing supper for out-of-town family this week.

Lately, it has been pasta madness at the house.

I just can’t stop making noodles.

For these prosciutto and marscapone stuffed ravioli, I used Skye McAlpine’s suggestions from A Table in Venice as a guide. The dough was very challenging to work with. With sweat rolling down my back after kneading the first pound, I decided to put the second in the stand mixer for a head start.

Note to fellow home cooks, never fully knead pasta dough in a stand mixer. I burned the motor of my very first mixer attempting to do so in the past. The dough builds gluten into a nearly rock solid mass that most standard machines cannot work together quite like human muscle. Knead in a mixer to the point where dough is begins to form into loads of tiny, waxy pebbles. Then dump the smooth bits onto the counter and work together by hand until smooth.

Nevertheless, the results of this recipe were exceptional. After the dough relaxed in the fridge for an hour I quite like the way it rolled through the manual press into ideal ravioli sheets.

With filling stuffed full of cheese and salty cured meats, I simply sprinkled the cooked pasta with finishing salt, olive oil and shards of parmesan. Coupled with a honey mustard vinaigrette salad and Zachary’s smoked red snapper we had was a feast of the best sort.