Sausage Stuffed Ravioli

Remember last week when I taught you all how to make pasta from scratch? Well today we go one step further and actually made stuffed ravioli from start to finish. Homemade pasta and homemade sausage filling really compliment each other, and with a little patience and experimenting, you might actually think you are eating at an Italian restaurant.

Sausage Stuffed Ravioli

Ingredients:

• 1 ball homemade pasta dough
• 2 Italian turkey sausages
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp. freshly chopped sage leaves
• 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 egg yolks

To make the sausage filling heat a large skillet over medium heat and add in the sausage, cooking and breaking into chunks with a wooden spoon. After the oils from the sausage begin to release, add in the onion and continue to cook until the sausage is no longer pink and the onions are soft and translucent.

Add in the chopped sage at the very end of cooking and mix well. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

In a food processor, put in the ricotta, egg yolks, and cooked sausage mixture. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and let chill in the fridge until ready to assemble the raviolis.

To assemble the ravioli, cut the dough ball into fourths, rolling each forth out long and flat. This is where patience is key. Roll the first dough fourth out so that is thin, but also thick enough that it won't rip when you fold it over the filling. I rolled mine out to the 5th setting on my pasta machine. Also, make sure there is plenty of flour on your work surface to that the pasta is easily removed.

Place a small spoonfuls of the sausage filling along 1/2 of the rolled out dough. Fold the other half of the rolled out dough over the balls of filling, pressing slightly around the filling, as to release any air pockets from being trapped inside the ravioli. I got 4 raviolis out of each dough strip.

Using a ravioli press or roller, cut around each sausage filled dough section. Place cut ravioli onto a floured plate until ready to cook. Continue to do this with the remaining 3 balls of dough and remainder of the filling.

Once ready to cook, bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Add in the ravioli , 8 raviolis at a time as not to crowd the pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the raviolis start to float on the top, the filling is cooked, and the pasta is slightly al dente. Place cooked ravioli into a serving bowl. Continue with the remaining raviolis.

Serve hot with your favorite pasta sauce. I used my homemade marinara sauce from last week, which I froze in individual portions for this exact reason!