During one of my visits to Philippines, I got a Pasta machine for my kitchen. It is one of those hand cranked basic machines that take your cooking to a level where it's pure pleasure ..... It looks like a lot of work but there is comfort in kneading your own dough, rolling out the sheets repeatedly through the rollers to get them to the right thinness. Of course, the best part is filling and sealing them and then cutting into shapes. Its like my own playdough in the kitchen and the good part is I can eat this one once I am done playing with it!

I made one batch of dough but decided to make two different types of ravioli. One was a Four Cheese and Spinach Ravioli in a tomato sauce and the other was a Mushroom Ravioli in an alfredo sauce. The pairing of the filling and the sauces was very deliberate. I am a big fan of tomato sauce pastas and love how the tomato sauce can cut through the heaviness of the cheese filling and brighten up the flavors. I used ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses as my usual choice of cheeses but the surprise addition was pepper jack cheese, cut into cubes. It seemed like a good idea but it was only when I tasted the ravioli, I realized how good an idea it was!! During the cooking of the ravioli, the pepper jack cubes melted to create these tiny spicy pockets in the ravioli which were unexpected bursts of flavor in the mouth. The mushroom filling was a classic sautéed mushrooms with herbs and garlic with a spoonful of ricotta cheese and 2 pinches of crushed red pepper flakes added to it. The red pepper flakes added a nice surprise element to the meaty mushrooms and alfredo sauce by giving an unexpected burst of spiciness which is heat that comes and goes into your mouth instead of using a red chili powder which gives heat throughout the filling.

Ingredients:

1 batch fresh pasta dough (can be homemade or store bought)

4 cheese and spinach ravioli:

½ cup ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons grated mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

¼ cup cubed pepper jack cheese

¼ cup sautéed spinach (thinly cut and sautéed in a pan to dry out the moisture)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mushroom ravioli:

1 box white button mushrooms, sliced thinly and sautéed in olive oil with 1 clove grated garlic

2 pinches crushed red chili flakes

1 tablespoon ricotta cheese

Egg wash (1 beaten egg with 1 tablespoon milk/water)

Sauces:

Homemade or store bought tomato sauce (2 cups)

Homemade or store bought alfredo sauce (2 cups)

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh basil leaves (finely chopped)

Method:

Mix the 4 cheese ravioli ingredients and the mushroom ravioli ingredients in separate bowls. Check for seasoning and mix well. Set aside.

Roll out the pasta dough into thin sheets in the pasta maker. Take 2 sheets at a time. On one sheet, brush the egg wash, then place teaspoonful of the spinach filling placed 1.5 - 2 inches apart. Repeat this process till all the place in the sheet is used. Make sure the egg wash around the filling is still moist or else brush with more egg wash and cover with the second sheet. Seal tightly around the filling and cut with a knife/ravioli cutter. Repeat this process with both fillings till all the filling is used up.

Place the raviolis on a cooling rack. Make sure they are not touching each other to avoid them getting stuck to each other.

Boil plenty of water in a pot – add some salt to it. Make sure the water has come to a roaring boil then add few raviolis at a time and reduce heat to medium high. Each ravioli takes 2-5 minutes to get cooked depending on the size and amount of filling in them. Once these are done, they will float to the top. Remove the raviolis with a slotted spoon and place in a strainer or a large bowl.

For the cheese ravioli, heat the tomato sauce in a shallow pan, add seasonings as needed and some fresh basil leaves. Gently place the raviolis into the sauce and coat lightly. Don’t mix too much or the raviolis can break and filling will leak into the sauce. Carefully move to a serving bowl and sprinkle some grated parmesan. Repeat the same with the mushroom ravioli and alfredo sauce. Omit the fresh basil. Serve immediately!