Cheese Ravioli

Ingredients

For the dough:
4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups warm water
3 eggs beaten
1tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

For the filling:
16 ozs whole milk ricotta cheese –well drained
8 ozs mascarpone cheese
¼ cup grated  Reggiano Parmigiana
4  fresh basil leaves finely chopped
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp lemon zest
1 egg
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper

Steps:

Filling:

1. Combine all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir well.
2. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Dough:

1. On a clean dry surface pour out the flour.
2. With your hands, push the middle part away creating a circular well.
3. In the middle of the flour, the well, pour in the beaten egg and 1 cup of warm water and the salt.
4. Working from the outside in, start mixing the ingredients by hand.
5. The dough may need some adjusting, if it’s too soft add some additional flour, start with ¼ cup. If it’s too dry add more water, start with ¼ cup.
6. When the dough is the right consistency, knead for several minutes and shape into a ball. The dough should look shiny when done.
7. Place a bowl over the dough ball and then place a towel over the bowl.
8. Let the dough rest for at least 1 hour.
9. When ready, separate the dough into 4 pieces and with a rolling pin start rolling the dough into a rectangle or square shape.
10. With a sharp knife, cut each rectangle piece into strips, about 2 inches in diameter and 8 inches long. Once you have your 2 inch x 8 inch strips… cut them again into 2 inch x 2 inch squares. Yields about 64 pieces or 32
11. Space the squares out on floured baking sheets and let rest for about 1 hour.

Assembling:

1. Lay out 32 squares
2. In the center of each square fill with 2 tablespoons  full of filling.
3. Place the remaining 32 squares on top of each filled square.
4. With a fork, press down on the edges of each filled ravioli to seal.
5. Let stand 1 hour before boiling.

Serve with your favorite sauce and garnish with fresh basil.