This is our basic ravioli pasta recipe for use with the braised beef shank dish in the new spring issue. Unlike with heartier pastas, such as Ragu Bolognese, this recipe uses no semolina flour. We prefer an all-purpose flour recipe with this ravioli because it produces a more tender, yet still pliable pasta sheet

Basic Pasta Recipe

You may either mix the pasta using a fork and the traditional well method (in the photos above) or save a little bit of time by bringing the ingredients together in a stand mixer before turning out on a board to knead.  No matter how you mix the ingredients, be prepared to knead the dough for 10 minutes to develop the necessary gluten that will hold the ravioli sheets together.

Makes approximately 1 ½ lbs.

3 cups all-purpose flour + more for kneading
6 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. water

1. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix, starting on low speed, until the ingredients come together. You may need to scape down the sides of the bowl one or two times. The dough should start pulling off of the sides of the bowl when it is ready, but it will still be slightly sticky. If it is still loose after 2 minutes of mixing, add 1-2 more tbsp. of water to the bowl and mix again.

2. Lightly flour a wood board and turn out the dough onto the board. Start kneading the dough, folding it over on itself and pushing down firmly with the palm of your hand. Continue kneading for 10 minutes, adding more flour to the board as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. After 10 minutes, test the dough ball by pulling it gently apart. The dough should spring back toward its original shape. If it does not, knead for another few minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Set your pasta rollers to the widest setting. Cut the dough into four equal pieces, placing three of them under damp paper towels while you work with the fourth. Flatten the piece of dough into a relatively thin disk (about ¼ - 1/3 of an inch thick). Lightly dust both sides of the piece of dough and then roll it through the pasta machine, holding your hand underneath to keep the dough from tearing. Fold the dough over itself and repeat this step two times. 

4. Set the rollers to the next narrowest setting and run the dough through twice without folding it again. Continue to run the dough through each progressively narrower setting two separate times until you reach the desired thickness. (We stopped at setting number 5 for this recipe.) Lay the pasta sheet out on a lightly floured surface and trim the edges of the pasta so that they are square. Cut, fill and seal the pasta as directed on the recipe you are using and then repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.