The Food: Homemade Ravioli

INGREDIENTS
1 Cup of all purpose flour
Salt
1/2 pound ricotta cheese
1 Large Egg, Lightly Beaten

This sounds like a very time consuming and/or difficult recipe, but its really not.  The hardest part is getting the dough thin enough but not so thin that it will create a hole where the ricotta and/or filling is so it won't leak out when boiling in the water.  You can really add whatever you want to the ricotta, chopped portabello mushrooms, crushed walnuts, eggplant, mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, but trust me, don't get too fancy, because the ricotta will always dominate the flavor's anyway, and there really is not a lot of room for a lot of stuffing in this ravioli.  

Put the flour into a large ceramic or glass bowl.  Make a spot for the egg in the flour, and add the egg and salt and just a little bit of water.  Work the mixture together well.  Lightly flour a surface and knead the dough until it is smooth.  Let the dough rest at room temperature, covered with an inverted bowl or plastic wrap for a half hour.

Roll out the dough until very thin but not so thin that it will rip, tear, or burst while boiling.  Form the dough and cut into 4" squares.  Add a teaspoon or less of the ricotta into the center, and put another piece of dough over it and close by pressing down with the fork on all four sides and "mushing" the 2 layers of dough together.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and add the ravioli.  Cook until the ravioli float (about 6 to 8 minutes). They're done when they float up to the top.  Drain and toss the desired quantity with your favorite sauce.

SHORTCUT: You can purchase wonton or eggroll wrappers uncooked in your supermarket.  Nosoya (www.nosoysa.com) is one such brand I have tried.  The ingredients are practically the same but the texture is not, it tends to be very slippery in the mouth, just like the way it would be if you ordered wonton soup from a Chinese restaurant.  Its worth experimenting with to take this shortcut, and works well with "nouvelle" cuisine and with some fancier dishes calling for gourmet ravioli, but it is not a traditional or authentic alternative.  The great advantage here is, that they are all cut to the perfect size.  One of these square sheets will get you 2 ravioli (they come about 20 in a package for about $2, which yeilds 40 ravioli).  You just fold the sheet in half, crease it, and it breaks apart perfectly.  You use a small spoonful of your filling (ricotta, seafood, mushrooms, whatever) and fold it over, press down the 3 open sides with a fork and drop them into boiling water.  When they float to the top, they are done. It is really so easy, but again, the slippery texture might be out of place in an Italian dish.  Also, do not tell anyone its a wonton wrapper, perhaps if they don't know, they will not make the association and they will be truly impressed with your homemade dish!    

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