Best Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli recipes for home food

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli

How to make ravioli dough from scratch and then shape and fill the pasta to make delicious ricotta spinach ravioli with or without a pasta machine! This recipe is simple, uses just 6 ingredients (filling included!), can be made in under an hour (including the 30 min dough rest), and is freezer-friendly!

These ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta are simply divine. Make the pasta as part of your date night activity and pair them with your favorite homemade pasta sauce. You may just want to kiss the chef!

Like most pasta dough, making homemade ravioli is actually surprisingly simple. In fact, easy, fresh, and delicious pasta is one of my new favorite homemade ventures. Once you have your ravioli dough sorted, there are tons of ravioli fillings you could choose from. This time, I’m sharing a simple spinach and ricotta ravioli filling.

This spinach and ricotta ravioli recipe is going to impress your whole house! For this recipe, you’ll make your homemade ravioli. Now don’t get scared, it’s easier than you would think. It will require some work, but I promise it’ll be so worth it because the result will have your whole house talking.

I knew I couldn’t stay away from pasta recipes for too long. When I posted my recent recipe for homemade potato gnocchi, it was only a matter of time before I fell down the pasta rabbit hole (one day, to be exact). Now it’s the turn of this delicious homemade spinach ravioli.

Follow this instruction Step by step

STEP 1) PREPARE THE RAVIOLI DOUGH

All you need is flour and eggs. The standard pasta serving calls for 100g (3.5 oz) flour and 1 egg per person.

 

- Pour your flour out onto a clean, dry work surface and create a well in the middle. Add the eggs to the center. Alternatively, add the flour and eggs to a bowl.

- Start to incorporate the dough by beating the eggs with a fork, mixing a little flour into them, and slowly adding more flour to the wet mixture until the dough begins to form.

- Then, knead the dough with your hands lightly to form a smooth dough (this usually takes 5-8 minutes). If it is a little dry, then you can add a little water – just enough to stop it from being crumbly.

Once the dough is smooth, shape it into a ball, and place it in an oiled bowl covered with a kitchen towel. Rest for 30 minutes. Don’t skip this resting step as the gluten needs to relax for a more elastic ravioli dough.

STEP 2) PREPARE THE SPINACH AND RICOTTA RAVIOLI FILLING

While the dough rests, prepare the spinach and ricotta ravioli filling.

- Steam the spinach, then allow it to cool slightly before squeezing as much of the excess water from it as possible. You can do this by hand or place the spinach in a fine-mesh sieve and press down on it with a large spoon or something similar. 

Add to a bowl with the ricotta, lemon zest, salt, and nutmeg and stir to incorporate properly. Taste and adjust any seasonings if necessary (salt & pepper, etc.)

STEP 3) ROLL OUT THE PASTA DOUGH

Chop the pasta dough into four pieces (make sure you chop it into an even amount of pieces; one for the top and bottom layer of the stuffed ravioli). 

To roll out the pasta pieces, you can use a rolling pin or a pasta machine. 

- BY HAND, The aim is to roll all four dough pieces into fairly even-sized long strips of pasta dough (as one will be the top and one will be the bottom of the ravioli). 

Roll them out on a surface lightly dusted with flour. The key is to get the pasta as thin as you can so that they aren’t chewy or un-cooked where the two pasta layers meet. The best rule to go by is being able to see the shadow of your hand through the pasta sheets so it’s practically paper-thin (as it will expand when cooked).

Do this one at a time, leaving the other dough pieces under a damp kitchen towel to stop them from drying out. 

- BY PASTA MACHINE

Roll out a single portion of dough on a lightly floured surface just thin enough to fit the pasta machine’s widest setting. 

Feed the dough through the machine, then fold it up like a letter (both sides folded into the middle with 3 layers) and feed it through the machine again. 

Then adjust the machine to a thinner setting and repeat this process, decreasing the thickness each time until you reach the second thinnest or thinnest option available (either will work depending on how thick you prefer the pasta). 

If the dough becomes a little sticky, lightly dust it with a little extra flour.

You’ll then want to fill the ravioli before rolling out the second layer of dough. If you do decide to roll them at the same time, then place them under a clean, damp tea towel until they are needed. 

STEP 4 HOW TO FILL & SEAL THE RAVIOLI (3 WAYS)

You could use three methods to fill and shape/seal the ravioli, including using a ravioli tray, cutters, or a more rustic by-hand approach. 

FREE-HAND (KNIFE OR WHEEL CUTTER)

With the rolled-out pasta sheet laid out on a surface, place around 1 tablespoon of filling on the pasta sheet, 2cm apart from one another. 

You can optionally brush the pasta’s edges with water to encourage a tighter seal between the two pasta layers so they don’t come apart during the cooking process. 

Lay the second sheet of pasta over the first, lightly pressing down around the filling edges, so there aren’t air bubbles in the dough. 

Using a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or corrugated cutter, cut the pasta into squares. Then, using your fingers, press around the edges to seal them, or use a fork to press down and seal the pasta. 

Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough. Try to be fairly even with the size of each ravioli so that they’ll cook at the same rate.

USING RAVIOLI STAMPS/COOKIE CUTTERS

This process is very similar to the above, with just a few tweaks. 

When using any cutter, you can lightly press the cutter into the dough to make an indentation in the dough before adding the filling. This will make it easy for you to see exactly where to put the filling and be in the center. 

Then add the filling according to the above instructions. When you’re ready to cut, press the stamp into the filled ravioli to cut it out, and then either seal it with your fingers or use a fork. 

USING A RAVIOLI TRAY

If you use a ravioli mold/tray, then make sure to dust it with flour.

Lay one piece of dough across it, pressing it into the shape of the mold. Then fill each ravioli mold with just enough filling, so it doesn’t overfill the mold.

Then, lay the second piece of dough across that and use a rolling pin or your hands to seal the pasta, cut it out, and then flip it over to get your prepared spinach ravioli.

You can use a similar method with certain-shaped ice-cube trays.

Whichever method you use: Once cut, flour the ravioli lightly, so it doesn’t stick to each other or any surface.

STEP 5) HOW TO COOK RAVIOLI

As a general rule, to know when ravioli are cooked, place them in salted boiling water, and when they rise to the surface, allow them to cook for a further minute or so, turning once, and they’ll be done. 

For this spinach ravioli, I found five minutes was enough. However, you can always test one before removing them all from the pan. 

Then transfer the cooked ravioli to a large skillet with a little butter or oil and your favorite herbs or your choice of sauce. 

HOW TO SERVE

You can serve this ricotta spinach ravioli with the sauce of your choice or lightly sauté with just a little butter/oil and some fresh herbs. 

What sauce goes well with ravioli? Honestly, any sauce you’d serve with pasta is a good option with this homemade ravioli. Marinara, homemade pesto, and creamy sauces all work well. You can also simply stir into some sage butter.

Ingredients

1) 6 cups all-purpose flour

2) 3 cups semolina flour or cornmeal

3) 2 tsp salt

4) 3 cups water

5) 22 oz spinach

6) 2 cup ricotta cheese

7) 2 heaping cup parmesan cheese

8) 2 egg

9) 2 tsp salt

10) 2 tsp cracked pepper

11) 2 tsp garlic powder

12) 1 tsp onion powder

13) 2 tsp whole nutmeg grated

14) 2 tbsp fresh oregano chopped

15) butter

16) homemade or store-bought marinara sauce

17) fresh oregano chopped

Instructions

• In a medium-sized bowl, stir together flours and salt. Make a well in the middle of the bowl by pushing the flour towards the sides.
• Pour lukewarm water and olive oil into the well. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
• Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes to make a soft and smooth dough. Add more water if the dough is too dry OR add more flour if the dough is too sticky.
• Form the dough into a ball and cover in plastic wrap.

Chill in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.

• To make the filling, wilt the spinach in a large pan over medium-high heat, constantly mixing to prevent burning. Once completely wilted, transfer to a small bowl. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, add ricotta, parmesan, egg, spices, and fresh oregano. 
• Mix ingredients together until combined.
• Drain off excess water from the spinach and add to the bowl. Fold into the cheese mixture with a spoon or spatula. 
• After the pasta dough is refrigerated, cut the dough in quarters, and place one portion onto a lightly floured surface. 
• Use a rolling pin or pasta maker to roll the dough out very thin, approximately 1/8-inch-thick- making it large enough to cover the area of the entire 12-piece ravioli press.
• Dust the top of the rolled-out dough with more flour and your ravioli maker/press. 
• Flip the dough over and place it onto the ravioli maker. 
• Gently press the plastic ravioli piece into the top of the dough, making small pouches.