I have come to realize that I am a collector of sorts when it comes to traditions. Whether it be decorating your “king/queen” for the day throne with streamers on your birthday, a special lunch from the deli on field trip days, or watching Elf every Thanksgiving evening, I seem to have a tradition for everything. Christmas, is no exception and frankly, it is a little out of control.
While some traditions have fallen to the wayside, such as my annual cookie party and making a day of chopping the tree down at a farm, others have stood the test of time. Multiple advent calendars are on display and filled with clever treats, the tree always goes up Thanksgiving weekend while all the adult kids are home, cookies will be made and decorated on Christmas Eve, and homemade ravioli will be made by the kids with their grandparents.
It is this tradition that I am sharing because not only is homemade ravioli absolutely delicious, it is also an incredible memory maker. Growing up, I loved going to my Gramma Napoli’s house for Christmas and savoring those incredible homemade delicate ravioli with her special sauce. My father carried on the ravioli tradition, but once my oldest was old enough to “help” in the kitchen, probably around four or five years old, he and my mom never looked back and the grandkids have been making Christmas Eve ravioli dinner for the family ever since.
The group of “helpers” has grown in number and size, and they have not missed a single year. Now my oldest is 26, and the youngest grandchild is 13, but they all still save the date on their calendars to go to their grandparent’s house to spend the day together in the kitchen getting covered in flour, testing new techniques, and talking about whatever is on everyone’s minds.
Sometimes they get artsy and you might find a guitar, Christmas tree, or heart ravioli in your dish. In addition to the delicious meal made with love, the gift of time spent together with their grandparents is something they will cherish forever, and maybe they will even continue the tradition when they have families of their own.
In the meantime, whether or not you start a ravioli-making day tradition in your family, making fresh pasta is a great activity and much easier than you might think. Maybe someone on your list would love the Atlas Pasta Factory machine and you can have some fun creating memories in the kitchen over the holidays.
Ravioli
Serves 6
You will need a pasta maker – We use the Atlas Pasta Factory Ravioli mold set.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 4 cups flour
- 4 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup warm water
For the filling:
- 3 lbs ricotta
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
For the sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Two 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes – I like San Marzano or Contadina
- 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup fresh chopped basil
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- One 14-ounce can tomato sauce
Directions:
On a clean work surface sprinkled with flour, pour out the flour and make a large well in the center. Put the eggs, water and salt in the well and begin to slowly mix the flour with the eggs with your hands. Continue to knead the dough until you have a uniform texture and color, approximately 10 minutes. Dough should bounce back and be soft and smooth. Form into a ball, cover it with a clean dish towel and let it rest for 10 minutes. While it rests, make the filling.
In a bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling. Set aside.
When dough is finished resting, slice into 7oz slices, lightly flour both sides of each slice and one at a time pass each slice through the flat rollers with the regulating knob set on position number. Fold the resulting sheet in half and pass it through the rollers again at position. This process should be repeated several times, lightly flouring the pasta sheet each time it is passed to assure a smooth sheet of dough. Reduce the thickness of the sheet by gradually adjusting the regulating knob, one number at a time, until you reach the thickness you desire.
When you reach your desired thickness, lay your sheet on the ravioli making trays. Add one tablespoon of filling to each ravioli, cover with the remaining sheet and press the ravioli mold on top. Release the top and cut the raviolis apart. You can freeze them at this point in an airtight container.
While a big pot of salted water is waiting to boil, start your sauce in a large soup pot. Heat olive oil until warm and add minced garlic. When just starting to lightly brown, add crushed tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper, stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add the tomato sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes.
When your salted water is boiling, gently add your ravioli to the water and depending on the thickness of your dough, they should take approximately 3-5 minutes.
In each bowl, put a little sauce, then, with a slotted spoon, gently lay several raviolis on top of the sauce and add more sauce on top of the ravioli. Serve with grated parmesan.