Pasta dough
• 1 lb. flour (about 3 cups)
• 1½ tsp. salt
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tbs. olive oil
• approximately ½ cup lukewarm water
Spinach and herb filling
• 1½ lbs. fresh spinach
• 3 hard-boiled eggs
• 2 Tbs. butter, melted
• 2 Tbs. fresh-grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup fresh ricotta cheese
• 2½ Tbs. minced fresh parsley
• ½ tsp. dried oregano, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried basil, crushed
• ¾ tsp. salt
• fresh-ground black pepper to taste
1. To make the pasta, mix the flour and the salt together in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Break in the eggs and add the oil and the water. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients until you have a moist, firm dough, adding a little more water if necessary. Or, combine all the ingredients in the container of a food processor equipped with the plastic blade and process for a little more than 1 minute, or until a homogenous dough has been formed.
2. Turn the dough out onto a large, floured board and knead, working in a bit more flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth and satiny, about 8 to 10 minutes. Keep the pasta covered with plastic wrap until it is needed.
3. To make the filling, wash the spinach, remove the thick stems, and cook it on high heat in a covered pot in as much water as clings to the leaves until it is soft and tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain it thoroughly and chop finely or process briefly in a food processor with the steel blade.
4. Chop the hard-boiled eggs very finely and stir them into the spinach along with the remaining ingredients. Or, in a food processor, add the eggs, quartered, to the spinach and process for about 30 seconds. Then add the remaining ingredients and process again until the mixture is well blended, about 30 to 40 seconds.
5. This amount of filling makes about 50 to 60 fairly large raviolis, enough for 6 servings.
MAKING THE RAVIOLIS
1. Divide the pasta dough into 4 equal parts. On a large board or tabletop, lightly dusted with flour, roll 1 part out as thinly as possible; try to keep the shape of it as much like a rectangle as possible, though it will invariably try to make itself into a map of Italy or Africa. Keep the rest of the dough covered until you need it. If the dough sticks, peel it up carefully from the board and dust a little more flour under it.
2. When it is about 1/16 of an inch thick, put it aside on a flat surface and roll out a second quarter of the dough to the same size and shape (within reason!). It is important to roll the dough out as smoothly and evenly as possible. If it is too thin in some places and too thick in others, parts will overcook and break apart when boiling, while other parts will remain undercooked.
3. Take one of the sheets of pasta and stretch it out on your lightly floured board. Place teaspoonfuls of filling on it in neat rows across and from top to bottom, about 2 inches apart from center to center. Using a pastry brush or your finger, moistenthe pasta with water in between the mounds of filling, drawing wide lines between the rows.
4. Carefully lower the second sheet of pasta over the first and press down firmly along the wetted lines to seal the two pasta layers around the filling. If large air bubbles are trapped in the raviolis, prick through the pasta with the tip of a sharp knife near the edge, then pinch together again securely when all the air has escaped.
5. Cut the ravioli apart with a pastry wheel, a ravioli cutter, or a sharp knife.
6. Roll out, fill, and seal the remaining 2 sections of dough in the same way. Be sure that all the seams are securely pressed together. Bad seals will ruin the raviolis while cooking. I’ve found that letting the ravioli rest for a while before cooking helps prevent breaking seals later. Leave the raviolis on a lightly floured board, in a single layer, for about 20 minutes before putting them in the kettle.
7. To cook the raviolis, drop them in a vast kettle of fast-boiling salted water and nudge them about very quickly with a wooden spoon for a minute or so to prevent them from sticking to each other. Boil them for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender but not mushy. Drain them thoroughly and serve immediately, with a light tomato sauce, cream sauce, or simply butter and cheese.
8. Makes about 50 to 60 fairly large raviolis, enough for 6 servings.
