Kitchen Fun - Homemade Raviolis

Bob with the sweet potato raviolis.

When I was in high school I worked at a family-style Italian restaurant. I started as a "salad girl." Yes that was my job title. Once I turned 18 I was promoted to a food server. That was the required age to serve beer and wine. Working in food service was some of the hardest work I've ever done. I still think everyone should have to work food service or retail in their life so they learn how to be a kinder customer.

Ravioli making day at the restaurant was a big deal. The cooking team came in early, making the dough and two kinds of fillings. They rolled out huge sheets of dough, at least two feet by two feet square and had these large wooden frames that they used to shape and fill the raviolis. They worked fast and it was quite a sight to see. Hundreds and hundreds of raviolis were made at a time.

Last weekend Bob decided he wanted to make some raviolis. These are something we've typically purchased pre-made, either fresh or frozen. As we try to cut out more processed/prepared foods, we find ourselves experimenting more in the kitchen.

The filling was sweet potato (with a little butter and brown sugar). The dough was just flour, water and egg from this recipe. It was a lot easier than we thought. We do have this ravioli tray/press from Norpro, which makes the ravioli formation process a breeze. The results were so good and tasty too. We just topped them with a butter, lemon and sage sauce. Next time we are going to do a goat cheese and sun-dried tomato filling.