Ravioli disaster

Prenderb

Hi, I've just thrown half of a batch of ravioli in the bin. I was hoping you could help me find out why, please!

I made the pasta with 200g flour, 2 eggs and some milk. It looked a bit wet, so i added a couple of pinches of flour. Then it seemed I'd put in too much flour, so i added a little milk. I think this is where it went wrong, because a lot of the milk coated the mixing bowl and the dough just spun round in it. I tried my best to soak it up with some kitchen paper, and I thought the dough was ok in the end, not too dry.

That said, it didn't go through the machine very well, lots of holes in the pasta sheet. Too thick?

Is there a more reliable recipe for pasta? Am I daft to mix it up in a (stand) mixer?

The innings was spinach and ricotta - 250g spinach cooked to soggy, squeezed as much as possible, before chopping and mixing with the 125g ricotta. Still seemed to be quite wet, I wonder if this is normal? First time ever playing with spinach.

Would love some feedback, guys!

lucylu

I would say milk was your problem

I would use 200g flour / 00 flour / strong flour , pinch of salt and 2 eggs , Blend into a dough if it is a bit sticky add some more flour.
Knead in your mixer very slowly until it is smooth and silky to touch.
stick in the fridge for about 30 mins to relax before you roll it.

did you allow the drained spinach to go cool before mixing with the ricotta?

Prenderb

Yeah, I'll try that for the pasta next time - no milk!

I didn't allow the spinach to cool first....that didn't help?

kylith

The recipe I was given is 100g flour to 1 egg. Don't put any milk in and you should be fine.

Minder

Are you using a pasta rolling machine to make the sheets? I find the loose crumbly pasta dough comes together after the gluten is worked - so I pass the dough through the rollers 6 or 7 times on the widest setting before narrowing the rollers. Each time, I fold the pasta up in thirds to thicken the dough before rolling again. This laminating helps work the gluten and make the dough more elastic. No milk - maybe a tablespoon of olive oil in the mixer.