Basil Print Ravioli

“A show of the summer softness—a contact of something unseen—an amour of the light and air,/ I am jealous and overwhelm’d with friendliness,/ And will go gallivant with the light and air myself.”    Walt Whitman, from “The Sleepers”

Mom came to visit and we made pasta and swam and ate and we ate and we ate. It was like the Sun came to shine.

Ravioli from Scratch

This makes a pound of dough

2 1/3 cups flour

2 eggs, 4 egg yolks

1 TB olive oil

½ tsp salt

Make a bowl of flour on the countertop and add the eggs, salt and olive oil. Mix with a fork until all is combined. You may need to add a TB of water, but do so super sparingly. Knead, knead, knead, crash the dough, then cover with saran and let sit 2-4 hours at room temperature.

To make fancy Basil-printed Ravioli, begin by rolling out a strip of dough to a thickness of about 1/16 inch. The rolling may be done with a rolling pin or a pasta machine. On my pasta machine, I rolled it to a 5, then I made another matching sheet rolled thinner to a 7. Arrange the herb leaves on the dough in any fashion that you desire.

Place a second thinly rolled strip of dough on top; press dough firmly. In order for the herbs to adhere properly the dough must be very fresh. If the dough begins to dry out, mist it with a little water.

Carefully roll both sheets of pasta through the pasta machine, but start at a 3 and slowly increase the settings to 5 or 6. The rolling process will stretch the herbs as they are being embedded into the dough. Place the pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface. Use a sharp knife or pastry cutter to cut the dough into large squares or wide noodles. I have a ravioli mold that cuts the serrated edges and leaves a little space for the filling, about a tsp.

For the filling, so many options. This is a good one:

8 ounces whole-milk ricotta (about 1 cup), drained

3 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup)

1 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1 cup), divided

3/4 cup chopped fresh basil, divided

6 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

Stir together ricotta, mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, 1/4 cup chopped basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Chill until ready to use.

This ravioli also tastes amazing with Vodka Pasta sauce.