Ode to the Ravioli Cutter

This is one of my prized possessions. People are so impressed by homemade ravioli that you’d think it was an art style. And I guess it is, in some ways. Mostly it’s just time consuming, but easy. What makes me smirk, is the professional look I can get with this little cutter.

Let’s start with the easy part. Filling. Whatever your wee hearts desire. Seriously. Seafood. Meat. Cheese. I’m a little bit of a traditionalist myself. I prefer a good finely ground venison or beef meatloaf mix – liberally mixed with a bit more moisture and Parmesan than I would use normally. After all, it can be richer since it’s in smaller units. Roast garlic and mashed potatoes works well for an alternative, too. That’s the traditional polish-style perogi if you toss in some finely chopped onion and/or cheeses. But hey, whatever you want. You can sauce it like the Italians, gravy it like the hillfolk or just brown it in some butter later. That’s the beauty of stuffing pasta.

When it comes to the pasta shell though, I generally go for semolina. Although any pasta flour will do in a pinch. Add an egg and some oil. Heck, I even toss in some herbs when I’m feeling flashy. Beat it into a doughy, workable state and add more flour or water til’ you’re satisfied with its handling. And then, my friends – the magic begins.

Just roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured surface. I find I prefer a little toothiness to my ravioli, so I don’t go paper thin, but close. Manipulate yourself into having two sheets pretty close to square with one a bit (about an inch) wider on all sides to accommodate the pillow fluff of stuffing. Mmm stuffing. That would be very good and fattening inside one of these. Make a note of that. Add gravy. That cannot be healthy.

Now that you have two sheets, lay the smaller one out and place a rounded teaspoon of your filling about an inch or two (depending on what size you want your raviolis to be) apart. You should end up with a checkerboard look. Now, if you want to get fancy you can use a pastry brush here (or, if you’re just not that into it - use your finger) and spread some melted butter, water or olive oil along the lines between the filling. Personally, I’m a little lazy so I use a spray can of olive oil. This is the glue to hold your edges closed. It’s an extra step, because the roller really does the work, but better safe than sorry, eh?

Now lay your second sheet down, align it with the edges and loosely cover your checkerboard with the blanket of pasta. With your finger, go down the crossroads and press lightly to remove the air and separate your squares (by the way you don’t have to do squares – I’ll get to that in a second). You should end up with a big square with lumps between rows of flattened dough.

This is where your incredible pasta roller comes in. it not only seals the edges as it rolls down these little flat roads you’ve made, it makes that professional pie crust edge that impresses everyone. Go down each row vertically then horizontally and voila – you have ravioli where once there was none! Now you can boil, fry or even bake them to your hearts content.

If you want to make larger, more perogi-like shapes, make a long line of dough and on one side place your filling – then fold over the “blanket” of the other side. Then you can go around each “pouch” and seal the edges with your roller to form a half-circle. Old polish women (okay maybe young ones, too) use their fingers to pinch them shut, but it’s a lot less fun or flashy looking. You can substitute water for the “glue” instead of butter if you’re looking to save that last belt notch – but at this point you’re a lost cause. In any case, it’s all about the finished look – and this little pasta cutter can do it for you with ease. Anybody else hungry?

In fact, when I was a poor kid living on my wits (with little return as you can imagine) we used to just toss regular white flour and egg together with salt and pepper to make “lasagna” noodles in an emergency. Just roll out the dough and cut sheets with this baby. It’s dreamy. It’s crafty. People will think you’re a master chef. The best way to use fresh pasta is to set it aside a bit to air dry first. Then cook it. This gives it a chance to firm up a tad. I find if you’re making actual lasagna – you can skip that step. The ravioli, by nature of time consumption in cleanup and cutting usually doesn’t need that step either.

Now that you know how this little wheel can make your dreams come true, invite someone over to watch. And eat. Actually, the resemblance to pizza or pie cutters is no accident either. This baby can cut pie dough to impress as well and comes apart to clean easily. Take off the two “pasta shape” parts on each side and you’ve got a simple pizza cutter. Multi-use and fancy-schmancy results, what’s not to love?[ Find a ravioli cutter]