Perfect pasta not this time!
July 25, 2011 4:29 PM   Subscribe

Ravioli-filter: Does anyone know about the Imperia Raviolamp 12-Ravioli maker device?

I tried to use it tonight and all instructions online (there were none in/on box) say 'put down one sheet of pasta, fill, put down another sheet, use rolling pin and voila, perfect pasta" (or the italian equivalent of voila). However that was not my experience. Were my pasta sheets too thin, too stretched, too full? They got stuck to bottom, filling became exposed when trying to extract them, and the rolling pin/raised edges didn't seem to 'cut' through the pasta layers. Should the device be chilled, floured, greased?? Did we miss something?? The pasta turned out fine after being cut by hand, but since the device is here, and making 12 vs one at a time is much more appealing, I am just wondering if anyone has any advice. (they were squash and sage by the way, yum yum).
posted by bquarters to Food & Drink (5 answers total)
 
Best answer: I've never used this Raviolamp thing, but in my experience of using the it's-so-easy!-instant-whatever makers (my mom has a ton of these things that she and my grandma have been acquiring since the 50s)...no, they NEVER #$&!ING WORK RIGHT GAHH! I can't tell you how many doughs, candies, frostings, fillings, etc I've had either stick or peel apart or burst or disintegrate or leak all over the place or (I could go on). I've found that when you factor in the added cleanup time of the fancy device, it's quicker just to make them by hand.

Sorry if that's not very helpful.

I would try an oil-dipped paper towel swiped through each of the ravioli pits prior to laying down the pasta sheet before giving up on it completely, though. And chilling it couldn't hurt. But my money's on it just not ever working right.
posted by phunniemee at 4:38 PM on July 25, 2011


Best answer: I have something similar and I have always had to a) grease the tray (butter / oil / whatever all work fine) and b) I have to brush some egg white between the pasta layers to ensure they stick together. Even with that I have to be pretty careful pulling them out (take your time) and I inspect them all for leaks prior to going into the water. I usually lose one or two out of 12 while boiling.

Personally I love it - Ravioli is so much fun to make and the flavor cannot be beat by pre-made ravioli and most restaurant ravioli for that matter.
posted by MillMan at 4:56 PM on July 25, 2011


I should add that it takes practice to get the amount of filling correct. Start with less than you think you should use as the ravioli won't seal if it's leaking out of the edges. Also keep it in a ball vs. a pancake shape as much as possible.
posted by MillMan at 4:58 PM on July 25, 2011


Best answer: I have a similar ravioli maker. What I do is:

1) Make a dry dough. Basically as dry as you can still roll out.
2) Roll out two sheets to thickness 6 on my pasta roller. Dunno if that's a standard size or not. It's one step thinner than I use when making spaghetti.
3) Liberally dust my ravioli maker with semolina flour
4) Place a sheet of pasta on the cast metal thing
5) Wet it with a pastry brush
6) Spoon like a tsp of filling* in to the middle of each one, taking care to avoid the places that will fuse together
7) Place the second sheet on top, starting at one end, and being careful to avoid air pockets.
8) Roll back and forth until it basically cuts mostway through.
9) Demold them onto wax paper. Cook immediately or freeze.

I think the most important parts are using a fairly dry dough, and flouring the pan. It's really hard to get the cutter to go all the way through but if you freeze them first they're frozen they break really easily where it's thinned out. If you're not freezing them, I peel the whole sheet of them off the form, and use kitchen shears to cut it along the lines.

* I use a mix of ricotta, buffala brie, gorgonzola, and parmesan. Mmmmmm.
posted by aubilenon at 5:08 PM on July 25, 2011


Response by poster: All of these answers are great! Thank you! I will try flouring the pan and using drier dough...and if that doesn't work, I will follow phunniemee's advice and go back to making them by hand! I will also try aubilenon's suggested filling- sound great!!
posted by bquarters at 1:50 PM on August 7, 2011


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