Homemade Fresh Pasta for Ravioli

Life is too short... I'd much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0.
~Sophia Bush

Today I learned that making you own pasta is not difficult at all! I know it seems strange that I have never made my own pasta before, as I am a gourmet cook, but Italian is not a common cuisine in my kitchen. Now that I know how easy it is to make my own fresh pasta, and how tasty it is, perhaps I will be changing that up a little bit.

I have been trying to perfect a mushroom stuffed ravioli that I have enjoyed at a local restaurant. I decided to try again today, but didn't have anything to stuff the mushrooms in to. I found a recipe that seemed very straightforward, so decided to give it a try.

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
5 eggs
3 tbsp olive oil
1 egg yolk

Prep: Use the dough hook on mixer. Put flour and salt in the bowl. At medium speed, add eggs 1 by 1. drizzle in olive oil.  Form a ball with the dough, knead lightly, and let rest for 30 minutes. Use a pasta roller or rolling pin to roll dough very thin. I was making ravioli, so I brushed the rolled dough with the egg yolk and fashioned my raviolis.

Making the raviolis:


Before cooking (I still need some work on the shaping, but I am satisfied with this as a first attempt):


Mushroom stuffed ravioli in cream sauce with parmesan reggiano and prosciutto:


Note: It was a lovely dinner with parmesan chicken and a glass of red wine.

Something else I learned: You don't have to have a pasta roller to make fresh pasta. I did it on the counter with a rolling pin.