imperia, ravioli, and tortellini

I finally broke out my pasta maker yesterday after letting it sit in its box for about a year. So here is my first attempt at making homemade pasta.

Basic Pasta Dough Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

oil

salt

Put the flour on a large, clean work surface. Make a well and crack the eggs in the middle. Add oil and season with salt. Incorporate the ingredients together with your fingers. The dough will be sticky. Knead into a ball and set aside until ready to roll out the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1/2" thickness. Crank through notch 1 several times, folding the dough in half before running through again. The dough will be gummy; flour if necessary. Run the dough through each remaining notch once. Don't have a pasta maker? I will rent mine out for a minimal fee.

I made two fillings the night before.

Butternut Squash

1 2lb butternut squash, halved, peeled, and cubed

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 tbsp herb de provence

olive oil

salt and pepper

Toss the cubed squash with herb de provence, olive oil, salt and pepper. Layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake @ 375 for 45 minutes. Combine the cheese and squash and blend in a food processor until smooth.

Spinach

1 cup frozen spinach

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano

salt and pepper

Thaw spinach and squeeze out as much water as you can. It should be about one handful. Combine cheeses, spinach, and season with salt and pepper. Make sure to taste; the parmigiano will add some saltiness.

I started to make raviolis but they didn't turn out as pretty as I wanted, so using a glass jar (add to shopping list: ring cutters), I cut out 3" round wraps to make tortellinis. Make sure to flour your dough so they won't stick together. For a less time consuming method, you can always use wonton wrappers.

To make tortellinis, place a small amount of filling in the middle. Dab some water or egg wash along the edge. Fold in half to form a half moon shape. Pinch the dough to secure the filling inside. Take the edges and fold, it should look like a fortune cookie, and pinch the corners together. Be creative and have fun!

The ravioli and tortellini can be kept frozen until ready to use. All I need now is to come up with recipes to serve my little cute dumplings. Any ideas?