On Sunday a wave of ambition overcame me and I decided that I would make homemade ravioli. Keep in mind that this was after I’d already made french toast for breakfast, and baked cookies for CK’s office. Really I should have just laid on the couch in my pajamas watching Lifetime movies like a normal person.
A year ago I impulse shopped this VillaWare Ravioli Maker from Williams-Sonoma and promptly stashed it in the cupboard right next to the Atlas Pasta Machine that my mother gave me several years ago for Christmas, and which I’ve used a total of two times. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Obviously, both of these kitchen gadgets were sorely in need of some kitchen counter face time so I bravely pulled out the ingredients I’d need to mix up a batch of pasta dough. And that’s when all of my excitement flew right out the window…
As soon as I began to combine the eggs and flour together I got a very ominous feeling. Initially I shook it off, but I called in CK for back-up, just in case, and he and I got to work. I showed him how to roll out the dough while I set-up the ravioli form. I layered my first sheet of pasta over the top. Made little indentations with the plastic form, filled in the pockets with a ricotta and Parmesan mixture, and carefully placed another sheet of pasta on top. Then I rolled the tiny rolling pin over the tray until the seams began to show. At this point you’re supposed to be able to flip the whole thing over and pretty ravioli tumble out all over the table. Of course that didn’t happen. My ravioli were firmly stuck in place.
 Layer & Press |
 Wet the Dough |
 Fill |
 Roll to Seal |
So I sulked and pouted. Then I started to read the reviews of this product online at Amazon. Across the board almost everyone mentioned that you need to oil the metal plate before layering your pasta on top or it will stick. Now the instructions mention this helpful little tip, but not until the end after you’ve already filled and sealed everything. In my opinion it should be the first step in the manual, preferably in bold red letters and underlined. Meanwhile, those cheese filled pasta pillows definitely were not coming out anytime soon. Thankfully CK thought to put the ravioli plate directly into the freezer. We left it there until the pasta hardened a bit, then we were able to carefully pry them out. It’s a good thing they were cute…
Of course, when we made the next batch, this time oiling the ravioli plate, they fell right out on the counter. I tried really hard not to hate them.
So was it worth it? Homemade pasta is awesome. Everyone knows that. We ate the ravioli last night with a red sauce. It was tasty, but I think I was too full of gadget resentment to truly enjoy it. I also think it’s best if l stick to the spaghetti mold on the pasta maker from now on.