Homemade Pasta 3 Ways – Part I – Magenta Colored Pasta – Ravioli

Part I of a 3 Part Pasta series.  I spent a good part of the day Saturday creating some eye-catching, taste tantalizing pasta that I’d love to share with you.  I made pasta 3 ways ~~ 3 different shapes, 3 different colors, 3 different vegetables!  Travel along and have some fun!

Homemade Pasta 3 Ways – Magenta Colored Pasta – Ravioli Part I

Pasta Dough – Magenta Color

• 2-1/4 Cups Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 1/4 Heaping Cup Beets, finely chopped*
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1-2 Tablespoons Water (as needed)
• Dash of Salt

*Preheat over to 425 degrees, wrap red beets in foil, and roast until tender approximately 45 minutes, depending on size.  Let cool then chop fine in a food processor.  Beets will add more liquid to the dough, so add water accordingly.

NOTE:  You can make pasta without a pasta maker, but in all honesty, if I had to roll and cut all that dough by hand I wouldn’t be making pasta!    I have a Kitchenaid Mixer and also purchased the pasta attachments.  It wasn’t until a year ago, that I finally bought a Kitchenaid Mixer.  It was one of those things that I thought I didn’t need and could make do with the inexpensive mixer I had for 15 years  and I did make do.  But let me tell you … I wish I had purchased it years ago ~ if only I knew then what I knew now!  The Kitchenaid is a workhorse!!  It has made my life so much easier and is so worth the money if you do a lot of baking and pasta making.  No, this blog isn’t endorsed by Kitchenaid, just trying to pass on what I wish I had known years ago.

Directions:

Put eggs and beets together in food processor and pulse to combine. Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour.

Add to the middle well of flour the eggs and beet mixture, olive oil, and water.  Add flour or extra water to dough as needed – consistency should not be sticky. With beater attachment, beat on low for 1 minute. Switch to dough hook and mix for 6 minutes. Take dough and cover in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 10 minutes.

After all my pasta dough was made I then put all the dough through a pasta roller.  This recipe is for 1 lb. of pasta so I split it in half, and rolled one half at a time.  I did the same for all 4 lbs of dough.  One in magenta, green, orange and plain.  I covered each sheet with plastic wrap so it wouldn’t dry out while I was rolling the rest of the dough.

Making the Criss-cross Design

I took a sheet each of the magenta, green and orange and put each one through the spaghetti cutter.  I then took the plain colored sheet of pasta and laid it out on the counter. I placed the colored spaghetti alternating on top of the plain sheet of pasta and repeated crosswise.  I pressed the spaghetti to the plain sheet with my fingers and then lifted the sheet carefully and put it through the pasta press.  It is then ready to make ravioli.  Make sure to put the patterned side face down, facing the counter, in your ravioli press.  Fill your ravioli with desired filling, lay a sheet on top, roll with a rolling-pin to ease out any air pockets.  Flip it over and admire your handiwork!

Tip:  When using a ravioli press always be sure to spray it with cooking spray each time so that the ravioli pop out easily.

If you won’t be eating the ravioli right away simply put them on a cookie tray, pop them into the freezer and then store in a zip lock freezer bag.  When you are ready to indulge in a sumptuous treat, boil some water, place the frozen ravioli gently in the boiling water and cook for approximately 4-5 minutes until they rise to the top! Enjoy!

Coming next … Homemade Pasta 3 Ways – Green Colored Pasta – Fettuccine